STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 


REPORT 


STATE  HIGHWAY  COMMITTEE 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 


LEGISLATURE    OF    1901 


AND  APPOINTED  BY 


HIS  EXCELLENCY,  AARON  T.  BLISS,  GOVERNOR 


LANSING,  MICH. 
ROBERT  SMITH  PRINTING   CO.,   STATE  PRINTERS   AND  BINDERS 


COMMITTEE. 

HORATIO  S.  EARLE Chairman. 

State  Senator  3d  District. 

WILLIAM  MCKAY Vice-Chairman. 

State  Representative  Tuscola  County. 

AMBROSE  E.  PALMER Secretary. 

State  Senator  27th  District. 

CAPT.  EDWARD  P.  ALLEN Treasurer. 

Member  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

CHARLES  J.  MONROE 

Member  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

LESTER  A.  GOODRICH .- 

State  Representative  Hillsdale  County. 

CHARLES  B.  FRENCH 

State  Representative  Monroe  County. 


EXPERT  STAFF. 

FRANK  F.  ROGERS Port  Huron,  Mich. 

Consulting  Engineer  and  Expert  Road"  Builder. 

JAMES  M.  STARKWEATHER ; Port  Huron,  Mich 

Superintendent  Earle's  Good  Roads  Train. 

GEORGE  S.  SMITH Port  Huron,  Mich. 

Mechanical  Engineer. 


327912 


LETTEE   OF   TEANSMITTAL. 


STATE  OF  MICHIGAN, 

OFFICE  OF  CHAIRMAN  HIGHWAY  COMMITTEE. 

To  His  Excellency,  AARON  T.  BLISS  and  the  Honorable  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Michigan: 

Sirs — We  have  the  honor  and  pleasure  to  present  herewith  a  report 
in  accordance  with  the  instructions  given  us  when  appointed,  and  deal- 
ing with  the  question  of  the  improvement  of  public  highways. 

We  have  endeavored  in  our  investigation  to  find  out  what  was  desired 
by  the  people  of  the  State,  and  to  recommend  such  legislation  as  we 
believe  will  largely  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  the  roads  and  be 
equitable  for  the  contributors. 

We  believe  that  the  general  welfare  of  the  State  will  be  enhanced 
by  a  complete  system  of  inter-town  highways,  and  that  the  benefit  de- 
rived by  the  wealthier  townships,  villages  and  cities  upon  whom  a  portion 
of  the  expense  to  build  them  through  poorer  townships  must  fall,  will 
amply  recompense  them  for  this  outlay. 

We  have  investigated  the  ways  and  means  employed  by  other  States 
that  are  improving  their  roads  with  the  object  of  permanent  inter-town 
highways  in  view,  and  have  based  our  recommendations  largely  upon 
what  has  been  proven  successful  in  such  States,  and  made  such  changes 
as  conditions  in  our  State  made  necessary. 

We  have  been  conservative  in  our  recommendations,  and  they  are  no 
untried  schemes. 

We  have  recommended  a  commission  of  three,  instead  of  a  commis- 
sioner, on  account  of  the  size  of  our  State,  and  its  peculiar  shape,  and 
believe  it  is  for  the  public  weal  that  this  plan  be  adopted. 

We  have  incorporated  into  this  report  many  suggestions  on  how  to 
build  and  improve  roads,  so  as  to  make  the  report  valuable  and  sought 
after  by  all  supervisors,  highway  commissioners,  overseers  of  highways 
and  many  other  citizens  interested  in  this  matter  of  paramount 
importance. 


6  LETTER    OF    TRANSM1TTAL. 

The  members  of  the  committee  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  appear 
before  your  Honorable  Body  or  any  committee  thereof  at  any  time,  and 
explain  any  portion  of  this  report,  or  answer  any  questions  that  you 
may  wish  explained  or  answered,  to  the  best  of  our  ability. 

We  humbly  pray  that  your  Honorable  Body  will  pass  a  resolution, 
at  once,  to  have  this  report  printed,  and  in  a  sufficient  quantity  to  satisfy 
the  demands  therefor. 

Most  respectfully  submitted, 

HORATIO  S.  EARLE, 

Chairman, 

WILLIAM  McKAY, 
AMBROSE   E.   PALMER, 
EDWARD   P.   ALLEN, 
CHAS.  J.  MONROE, 
LESTER  A.   GOODRICH, 
CHARLES  B.  FRENCH, 
Members  of  the  Michigan  Highway  Committee. 


PKEFACE. 

This  volume  deals  with  the  subject  of  improvement  in  the  public 
highways  from  an  economical  standpoint  wholly,  while  it  may  be  true — 
that  sentiment  has  some  claims  upon  the  taxpayer,  yet  all  of  the 
investigations  of  the  committee  have  been  along  the  line  of,  will  it  be 
profitable  to  the  taxpayers  to  invest  their  money  in  improved  highways. 

We  have  worked  diligently  to  find  out  what  the  desires  of  the  people 
were  upon  the  subject  and  what  they  wished  us  to  report  as  their  desire 
and  what  they  wished  us  to  recommend,  and  this  report  gives  what  is 
almost  a  unanimous  request  of  the  thousands  of  taxpayers  with  whom 
we  have  talked  in  the  last  two  years.  In  fact  it  lacks  only  three 
of  being  unanimous  among  all  the  thousands  that  we  have  come  in  con- 
tact with. 

The  first  dissenter  was  a  man  that  was  down  on  any  more  boards  of 
any  kind  or  description — whether  needed  or  not,  for  he  was  afraid  of 
paternal  government  evils;  the  second  was  a  publisher  who  ought  to  let 
his  subscribers  publish  one  issue  of  his  paper  that  he  might  read  and 
learn  how  far  in  advance  his  readers  were  of  the  paper,  and  the  third  was 
an  ex-farmer  who  had  moved  to  the  city  because  the  roads  were  so  bad 
in  the  neighborhood  where  his  farm  was  located  that  his  children  could 
not  get  to  school,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  be  taxed  to  build  roads  for 
other  people's  children  to  go  to  school  when  to  them  was  open  the  same 
chance  which  was  to  him,  move  off  tta  farm  in  order  to  educate  their 
children. 

The  committee  are  indebted  to  a  great  many,  but  especially  to  the  fol- 
lowing, for  assistance  in  gathering  information  and  also  in  the  building 
of  the  sample  roads  which  brought  out  the  people  and  made  it  possible 
for  us  to  meet  them  and  find  out  what  they  did  want  and  to  whom  we 
desire  in  this  public  way  to  express  our  sincerest  gratitude. 

Hon.  Martin  Dodge,  Director  of  Public  Road  Inquiries  and  his  corps 
of  assistants  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  American  Road  Makers,  the  League  of  American  Wheelmen,  The 
Municipal  Journal  and  Engineer,  The  Good  Roads  Magazine,  The  New 
York  Tri-Weekly  Tribune  and  the  Michigan  papers  that  have  taken  an 


8  PREFACE. 

interest  in  this  great  economical  subject  and  who  have  so  kindly  opened 
their  columns  to  articles  of  instruction  and  news  regarding  it. 

To  the  consulting  engineer,  Mr.  Frank  F.  Rogers,  who  has  given  so 
much  of  his  time  to  this  work  since  it  started  for  almost  nothing. 

The  Port  Huron  Engine  &  Thresher  Co.,  who  have  furnished  the  most 
of  the  machinery  for  Earle's  Good  Roads  Train  free  of  charge. 

The  Wallace  Stone  &  Lime  Co.,  The  Acme  Road  Machinery  Co.,  The 
Kelly  Road  Roller  Co.  and  the  Austin  &  Western  Co. 

The  Pere  Marquette  Railroad  Company  who  so  magnanimously  offered 
to  haul  Earle's  Good  Roads  Train  anywhere  in  Michigan  where  sample 
roads  were  to  be  built,  for  said  they,  "We  are  as  much  interested  in 
good  roads  as  anybody  can  be,"  and  it  is  true,  that  if  the  roads  are 
good  all  of  the  time,  there  is  some  freight  being  offered  to  the  railroads 
all  of  the  time,  instead  of  all  of  the  freight  when  the  roads  are  good 
and  no  freight  when  the  roads  are  bad. 

The  Michigan  Passenger  Association  who  gave  the  limit  of  low  fare 
to  the  Michigan  Good  Roads  Exposition  at  Greenville,  held  July  29th 
to  31st,  where  all  former  records  of  attendance  at  good  roads  conven- 
tions were  broken,  it  being  estimated  that  twenty-five  thousand  people 
visited  the  exposition  in  the  three  days. 

To  Dr.  A.  W.  Nichols,  of  Greenville,  for  his  untiring  efforts  for  the 
exposition  and  to  whom  the  success  was  largely  due. 

The  following  states:  New  York,  Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, Vermont,  New  Jersey  and  Ontario,  Can.,  for  their  reports  and 
many  suggestions  by  their  commissioners  and  good  roads  advocates,  and 
to  many  others  not  too  numerous  for  the  good  of  the  cause,  but  too 
numerous  to  mention  here. 

One  member  of  the  committee  has  been  referred  to  by  one  of  the  pub- 
lications in  Michigan,  as  a  "shining  light  among  good  roads  fanatics." 
We  earnestly  urge  careful  perusal  of  this  report  and  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  committee  for  any  signs  of  fanaticism  that  are  dangerous  to 
the  welfare  of  the  commonwealth. 

As  the  committee  has  served  without  fee,  but  not  without  reward,  for 
to  feel  that  we  have  done  the  best  we  could  under  the  circumstances  is 
a  reward  that  is  more  satisfying  than  dollars  ever  were  or  ever  can  be, 
unjust  criticism  has  appeared  to  us  as  out  of  place  but  it  has  been  so 
much  in  the  minority  compared  with  the  letters  and  words  of  approval 
that  we  have  no  fault  to  find. 


ORGANIZATION 


AND 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  WORK  DONE 


BY  THE 


MICHIGAN  HIGHWAY  COMMITTEE 


BY  HOEATIO  S.  EAKLE, 


ORGANIZATION  AND  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  WORK  DONE  BY  THE 
MICHIGAN  HIGHWAY  COMMITTEE. 

BY  HORATIO  S.  EARLE,  CHAIRMAN. 

No  subject  needs  greater  and  more  careful  attention  by  the  people 
of  Michigan  to-day,  than  that  of  how  to  get  better  highways.  Not  neces- 
sarily good  roads  everywhere,  for  no  one  connected  with  any  good  roads' 
organizations  that  I  know  of,  is  fanatical  enough  to  advocate  any  such 
thing,  but  it  is  among  the  possibilities  to  have  better  roads  everywhere, 
where  better  roads  are  wanted  and  needed. 

There  has  been  a  hundred  million  dollars  expended  on  the  roads  of 
Michigan,  over  which  is  transported  millions  of  tons  of  the  products 
of  the  field  and  factory  each  year,  costing  much  in  excess  of  what  it  would 
cost  if  the  roads  were  better. 

Upon  these  roads  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  expended 
each  year.  Is  it  not  our  bounden  duty  to  inquire  of  ourselves  whether 
we  are  draining  the  pockets  of  the  taxpayers,  and  if  the  latter,  if  there 
is  not  some  way  to  educate  the  builders  and  menders  of  the  roads,  so 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  money  expended  may  be  invested  in  perma- 
nent roads  instead  of  wasting  it. 

It  was  with  this  object  in  view,  that  a  concurrent  resolution  was  intro- 
duced in  the  last  legislature  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  on  high- 
ways, and  authorizing  that  committee  to  investigate  the  matter,  and 
make  a  report  thereon  to  your  honorable  sirs,  with  any  recommendations 
by  them  deemed  wise  to  put  into  execution  to  bring  about  a  better  appli- 
cation of  the  labor  and  money  spent  upon  the  roads. 

The  resolution  which  follows  was  introduced  in  the  Senate,  May  15, 
1901,  and  passed  by  that  body  that  same  day;  passed  by  the  House, 
May  16th,  and  immediately  approved  and  signed  by  the  Governor.  It  is 
as  follows: 

A    CONCURRENT   RESOLUTION. 

For  the  appointment  of  a  committee  on  highways  to  investigate  and 
report  a  plan  of  improvement,  and  means  therefor,  to  the  next  Legis- 
lature. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  (the  House  concurring)  that  a  joint  committee 
of  seven,  composed  of  two  senators,  three  representatives,  and  two  mem- 
bers of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  to 
investigate  the  subject  of  highway  improvement  in  the  State  of  Michi- 
gan, and  to  recommend  to  the  next  Legislature  such  plan  as  they  may 
deem  advisable,  if  any,  for  a  general  system  of  highway  improvement, 
and  providing  means  therefor.  Said  committee  shall  serve  without  pay 
or  expense  to  the  State. 


12  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 


ORGANIZED   INVESTIGATION. 

Governor  A.  T.  Bliss  immediately  appointed  the  following  men  to 
serve  on  the  committee : 

Senators — Horatio  S.  Earle  and  Ambrose  E.  Palmer. 

Representatives — William  McKay,  Lester  A.  Goodrich  and  Charles  B. 
French. 

Members  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture — Capt.  Edward  P.  Allen 
and  Charles  J.  Monroe. 

Who,  on  the  21st  day  of  May,  1901,  met  in  the  Senate  chamber  and 
organized  and  elected  officers  and  committees,  as  follows : 

Chairman,  Horatio  S.  Earle;  Vice-Chairman,  William  McKay;  Sec- 
retary, Ambrose  E.  Palmer ;  Treasurer,  Capt.  Edward  P.  Allen. 

Committee  of  One,  Farmers'  Institutes — Ambrose  E.  Palmer.  Granges, 
William  McKay.  Agricultural  Fairs,  Chas.  J.  Monroe.  Republican  Con- 
ventions, Capt  Edward  P.  Allen;  Democratic  Conventions,  Charles  B. 
French.  Cities  and  Villages,  Lester  A.  Goodrich.  And  for  Press  and 
Labor,  Horatio  S.  Earle. 


FIRST  STEP. 

The  first  step  taken  was  to  secure  the  services  of  Frank  F.  Rogers,  of 
Port  Huron,  for  consulting  engineer.  He  having  investigated  personally 
the  eastern  roads  had  the  very  best  of  experience  along  this  line,  as  he 
was  employed  to  assist  the  late  Gen.  E.  G.  Harrison,  the  veteran  road 
builder  and  expert,  who  was  connected  with  the  office  of  Public  Road 
Inquiries,  at  Washington,  in  building  sample  roads.  He  helped  the  gen- 
eral to  build  the  first  government  sample  built  in  Michigan,  the  same 
being  the  one  mile  built  at  Port  Huron  in  connection  with  the  First  In- 
ternational Good  Roads  Congress  promoted  by  Mr.  H.  S.  Earle  in  July  of 
1900. 

Mr.  Rogers  having  had  the  necessary  experience  it  was  very  important 
for  the  success  of  the  committee  that  his  services  be  secured,  but  as  the 
committee  was  established  to  do  all  its  work  without  pay  or  expense  to 
the  State,  it  became  obligatory  for  the  committee  to  either  secure  dona- 
tions of  money  or  donations  of  service. 

When  this  matter  was  brought  before  Mr.  Rogers,  he  volunteered  to 
do  his  part  of  the  work  free  gratis,  but  before  the  committee  were  ready 
to  go  into  the  field  to  work,  tie  had  been  engaged  by  the  Port  Huron 
Engine  &  Thresher  Company,  but  they  also  continued  the  offer  of  his 
services  as  consulting  engineer  and  more,  to  furnish  all  the  machinery 
necessary  to  build  sample  roads  of  any  kind  of  material. 

So,  through  the  magnanimity  of  the  good  people  of  Michigan  the  com- 
mittee have  been  able  to  accomplish  a  great  deal,  but  not  all  they  would 
have  been  able  to,  had  the  State  paid  the  legitimate  expenses  of  the  work. 

The  work  done  has  been  modeled  after  the  plan  of  work  so  successfully, 
carried  on  by  the  director  of  Public  Road  Inquires,  the  Hon.  Martin 
Dodge,  in  whose  employ  Mr.  Earle  was,  as  a  special  agent,  when  elected 
State  Senator. 

The  chairman  has  been  to  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Vermont,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Ohio,  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  seeking  for 
information  upon  the  subject  and  inspecting  the  roads  and  method  of 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1W2.  13 

building  and  paying  for  them,  and  is  of  the  opinion  that  we  can  by  taking 
the  best  in  all  their  plans  and  putting  some  new  features  in,  have  a 
better  plan  than  any  of  them  have  at  the  present  time. 

A  synopsis  of  the  principal  things  that  have  been  done  will  follow, 
with  an  approximate  account  of  what  the  expense  would  have  been 
had  there  been  no  donations,  and  what  it  actually  cost  the  chairman  over 
and  above  all  donations. 


REPORT. 


I  have  invited  our  consulting  engineer,  Mr.  Frank  F.  Rogers,  to  make 
a  detailed  report  of  the  road  work  done  at  three  places  where  we  have 
built  or  assisted  in  building  sample  roads,  and  his  report  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

The  actual  expense  on  account  of  donations  is  impossible  to  give 
exactly,  but  I  will  estimate  it,  and  conservatively. 

Nearly  or  quite  40,000  pieces  of  mail  matter  in  the  two  years  I  have 
either  sent  out  or  caused  to  be  sent  out,  to  citizens  of  Michigan,  relating 
to  good  roads. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  grand  assistance  given  me  by  the  office  of  Pub- 
lic Road  Inquiries  at  Washington,  under  the  guidance  of  Hon.  Martin 
Dodge,  Director,  and  Maurice  O.  Eldridge,  Assistant  Director,  the  New 
York  Tri-Weekly  Tribune,  the  Municipal  Journal  and  Engineer  of  New 
York,  and  the  Good  Roads  Magazine  of  New  York,  this  printing,  direct- 
ing and  postage  alone  would  have  cost  me  $1,200. 

I  have  traveled  in  the  two  years  getting  or  giving  information  on  the 
subject  of  good  roads,  10,000  miles,  which  with  hotel  and  other  necessary 
traveling  expenses,  providing  that  no  donations  of  transportation,  meals 
or  lodging  had  been  given,  would  have  cost  me  $500  more. 

I  have  addressed  in  the  different  audiences,  in  the  two  years,  at  many 
places  in  Michigan,  at  least  100,000  people,  and  have  not  charged  in  any 
case  a  single  cent  for  doing  so. 

I  had  my  good  roads  train  in  the  field  in  1901,  four  weeks;  in  1902, 
nineteen  weeks,  which  had  I  not  had  donations  of  transportation,  by  rail- 
road companies  and  engineering,  use  of  machinery  and  labor  by  the  Port 
Huron  Engine  &  Thresher  Co.,  and  the  Acme  Road  Machinery  Co.,  and 
many  a  meal  and  many  a  lodging  by  good  roads  enthusiasts,  it  would 
have  cost  me  all  of  $3,000  more. 

Have  paid  out  for  stenographer,  printing,  postage,  telephoning,  tele- 
graphing, express,  freight  and  other  expenses  not  mentioned  in  the  fore- 
going, about  $400. 

I  have  given  one-half  or  more  of  my  time  for  the  two  years. 

The  expenses  of  the  other  members  of  the  committee  amount  to  about 
$200. 

The  printing  of  this  report  I  have  guaranteed  the  payment  of  and  if 
the  State  does  not  see  fit  to  pay  it,  I  shall  have  to  pay  several  hundred 
dollars  more,  and  all  for  the  privilege  and  honor  of  serving  as  chairman 
of  the  first  sample  road-building  and  instruction-giving  Michigan  High- 
way Committee. 

HORATIO  S.  EARLE, 

Chairman. 


EOADISMS 


BY 


EOADISTS. 


We  have  stolen  some 
Yet  have  no  apology  to  make, 
But  invite  others  to  as  freely  take, 
For  the  good  of  the  cause. 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     19C1-S90::.  •    19 


EQUITY   IX   STATE  AID. 


There  is  just  as  much  equity  iu  State  aid  for  highways  as  there  is  for 
State  aid  for  education,  or  for  health,  or  for  care  as  in  asylums,  or  for 
punishment  as  in  prisons. 

It  is  a  very  small  percentage  of  taxpayers  that  ever  attend  college, 
yet  there  is  not  a  taxpayer  in  the  State,  but  what  is  benefited  by  the 
college,  and  more  than  his  education  taxes  amount  to  many  times. 

An  incident  proved  this  to  me.  I  had  taken  passage  on  a  Michigan 
Central  train  from  Chicago  to  Detroit.  A  gentleman  in  the  seat  in  front 
of  me  spoke  of  the  fine  gravel  roads  as  we  came  through  Indiana,  and 
what  a  change  when  we  came  to  the  Michigan  State  line,  in  the  roads, 
and  he  said,  ''Michigan  ought  to  have  roads  equal  to  her  educational 
institutions.''  Then  he  told  me  that  he  resided  in  Missouri,  but  was  an 
alumnus  of  the  Michigan  University,  and  he  said,  "Everything  in  Mich- 
igan, or  that  comes  from  Michigan  is  more  appreciated  by  me  than  a 
similar  article  from  any  other  State,"  and  he  said,  "I  buy  everything  I 
can  from  Michigan,  for  it  reminds  me  of  my  Alma  Mater."  So  you  see 
that  the  Michigan  University  benefits  the  owner  of  the  furniture  factory 
in  Grand  Rapids,  and  the  mechanic  that  makes  the  furniture  and  the 
farmer  that  owns  the  sheep  that  furnish  the  wool  to  clothe  both,  and 
who  also  sells  both  the  farm  produce  to  keep  both  alive. 

This  University  advertises  Michigan,  it  makes  Michigan  respected  and 
appreciated  and  benefits  in  a  thousand  ways,  that  we  know  not  of. 

Could  the  city  of  Ann  Arbor  alone  build  and  run  that  institution? 
No!  And  this  is  one  of  the  cases  where  home  rule  has  to  expand  for  the 
benefit  of  higher  education,  taking  in  the  whole  State,  taxing  all  to 
educate  a  few.  that  all  may  be  benefitted. 

Taxpayers  are  paying"  taxes  to  educate  largely,  non-taxpayers,  but 
would  you  sell  the  University  of  Michigan  to  some  other  state  if  it  could 
be  transported?  No!  It  would  not  be  a  good  business  transaction  to 
do  so. 

We  do  not  all  expect  to  go  to  asylums,  but  these  institutions  are  run 
entirely  by  State  aid,  so  that  if  occasion  requires  we  will  receive  a  direct 
benefit 

Very  few  expect  to  be  caught  and  sent  to  prison,  but  these  institu- 
tions are  partly  supported  by  State  aid,  and  partly  by  the  small  earnings 
of  the  men  whdse  labor  is  sold  to  contractors  to  manufacture  merchant- 
able goods,  which  are  sold  in  competition  with  those  made  by  honest 
men  who  need  to  get  wages  that  will  support  families  and  educate  them. 
Yet  we  need  prisons,  and  it  is  better  to  pay  taxes  to  support  them,  than 
to  have  crime  go  unpunished,  and  so  increase  to  our  damage. 

Good  roads  differ  from  an  institution  of  learning  in  that  everybody 
uses  them  directly,  some  more  and  some  less,  but  no  one  who  is  in  health 
but  what  uses  them. 

Good  roads  save  money  to  those  who  have  a  product  of  field  or  factory 
to  transport  over  them,  and  furnish  enjoyment  to  city  people  by  privi- 
leging them  to  enjoy  nature  and  the  rural  citizens  of  the  city. 


20  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

GooJ  roads  are  like  an  institution  of  learning  in  that  all  departments 
must  be  good  in  order  to  do  good. 

An  institution  that  was  good  in  mathematics  and  poor  in  languages, 
good  in  astronomy,  but  poor  in  philosophy,  would  not  be  called  good, 
and  would  be  bad.  And  a  road  from  Detroit  to  Chicago  that  is  good  in 
Detroit  and  poor  in  Ypsilanti,  and  good  in  Ann  Arbor  and  poor  in 
Jackson,  etc,  etc.,  is  poor,  for  like  a  chain  which  is  no  stronger  than  its 
weakest  link,  the  road  is  no  better  than  its  poorest  place. 

Now  a  great  institution  of  learning  cannot  be  built  and  run  by  a 
small  locality,  neither  could  one  township  offer  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
one  department  in  a  great  university.  And  if  a  department  was  depend- 
ent upon  some  poor  township  to  support  it  that  department  would  be 
poor,  and  not  only  would  it  suffer  but  the  whole  institution  would  also 
suffer. 

Likewise  a  through  road,  which  has  five  million  dollars  worth  of  prop- 
erty in  one  town  to  assess,  to  build  and  keep  it  in  repair,  and  only  two 
hundred  thousand  in  another,  must  necessarily  be  good  in  the  first  town 
and  bad  in  the  last,  so  on  the  whole  bad. 

But  if  State  aid  for  permanent  roads  prevailed,  and  was  distributed 
according  to  the  number  of  miles  of  road  in  each  township,  and  this 
State  aid  was  only  given  to  towns  which  gave  as  much,  and  it  had  to  be 
used  on  through  roads,  and  in  making  the  poorest  places  the  best  road, 
in  a  few  years,  the  citizens  of  Michigan  could  ride  over  the  State  line 
without  being  ashamed  of  their  roads,  and  their  roads  would  advertise 
the  State,  as  well  as  save  money  for  the  taxpayers  to  pay  their  taxes 
with,  and  some  left  to  lay  up  for  a  rainy  day,  figuratively  speaking,  but 
literally  speaking,  rainy  days  would  not  be  the  terror  they  are  now,  for 
they  would  not  hurt  the  permanent  roads,  and  rainy  days  could  be 
utilized  by  marketing  on  them  as  they  do  in  the  old  countries  where  the 
roads  are  good. 

What  do  the  aiders  get  in  return  for  the  aid? 

In  the  first  place,  where  did  the  aiders  get  the  property  which  is  taxed 
in  the  rich  towns? 

Detroit  is  the  metropolis  of  Michigan,  and  Detroit  is  in  Michigan  in- 
stead of  Michigan  in  Detroit. 

Michigan  has  not  grown  on  Detroit,  but  Detroit  has  on  Michigan,  and 
as  Detroit  is  the  metropolis  of  Michigan,  so  is  Port  Huron  the  metropolis 
of  St.  Glair  county,  Saginaw  of  Saginaw  county,  Grand  Rapids  of  Kent 
county,  and  so  on. 

It  is  said  by  some  that  these  great  centers  of  wealth  build  and  repair 
their  streets,  and  that  the  townships,  rich  or  poor,  should  do  likewise. 

Where  did  this  great  accumulation  of  wealth  come  from?  Did  it  not 
come  from  all  over  the  State?  from  the  profits  of  the  pine  timbers,  the 
hardwood,  the  mines,  the  coal  deposits,  the  marl  deposits,  and  the  profits 
from  off  the  products  of  the  field  and  factory,  and  the  caloused  hands 
from  all? 

Isn't  this  a  government  "of  all,  by  all  and  for  all"?  And  if  so,  isn't 
it  equitable  to  make  it  a  government  of  all  places,  by  all  places  and  for 
all  places.  And  is  it  unjust  to  ask  those  who  have  been  made  rich  off 
the  rural  districts  to  pay  something  toward  the  primary  school  fund, 
which  helps  to  give  a  common  school  education  to  all;  and  isn't  it  just 
as  equitable  to  pay  something  to  the  State  Aid  Road  Fund,  that  shall 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  21 

make  ii  possible  for  the  child  in  ihe  rural  district  to  get  to  the  school 
whore  an  education  is  TO  be  had  without  having  to  wallow  in  mud,  or 
walk  in  snowwater  ankle  deep,  as  I  have  seen  them  in  the  spring  of  the 
year? 

The  aiders  will  net  a  chance  to  do  their  duty  and  pay  something  to 
make  the  State  richer,  which  has  made  them  rich. 


SELECTED  RESOLUTIONS. 

From  many  resolutions  received,  these  two  are  selected  as  fairly  repre- 
senting the  spirit  of  all : 

devolved.  That  it  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  the  Union  Grangers 
and  Teachers'  Association  of  Oceana  and  Newaygo  counties,  now  in 
session  at  Hesperia,  Michigan,  that  our  State  road  laws  are  defective 
and  should  be  so  amended  as  to  include  for  taxation,  for  building  and 
repairing*  our  highways,  our  cities  and  the  corporations  of  the  State — 
in  other  words.  State  aid  for  road  building  should  be  secured. 
Dated.  Ilesperia,  Mich..  Feb.  8.  1902. 

We  hereby  certify  that  the  above  resolution  was  adopted  at  the  annual 
February  meeting  of  the  above  named  association  held  at  Hesperia,  Mich- 
igan in  1902. 

J.  B.  McCALLUM, 

President  U.  G.  T.  A. 
Attest : 

TSABELLE  M.  BECKER, 

Secretary  U.  G.  T.  A. 

Resolutions  adopted  by  the  Michigan  State  Horticultural  Society,  at 
its  midsummer  meeting,  held  in  the  city  of  Pontiac,  June  4  and  5,  1902. 

••Having  listened,  with  much  interest  and  profit,  to  the  address  of  the 
Hon.  II.  S.  Earle.  of  Detroit,  on  the  subject  of  'Good  Roads/  and,  realiz- 
ing the  financial  importance  of  th  s  improvement  to  all  classes  of  our 
citizens, 

"Be  it  resolved,  That  the  Michigan  State  Horticultural  Society  heivby 
extends  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Earle  for  his  valuable  essay  and  also 
places  itself  on  record  as  endorsing  every  legitimate  effort  tending  to- 
wards an  improvement  in  the  manner  of  construction  and  repair  of  our 
public  highways.  We  believe  that  our  read  builders  must  be  experts  and 
that  an  organized  and  systematic  plan  of  permanent  improvement  should 
be  adopted,  rather  than  the  present  unsatisfactory  lack  of  method, 
shown  in  our  frequent  and  temporary  -patching  up'  processes." 


VERMONT  PLAN. 

The  Vermont  plan  of  dividing  the  permanent  road  fund  similar  to 
the  way  that  the  primary  school  fund  is  divided,  only  instead  of  basing 
it  on  population,  it  is  based  on  the  mileage  of  roads  or  streets  in  town, 
village  or  city,  is  in  my  estimation  the  most  equitable  plan  that  can  be 
conceived  of. 


22  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

This  State  apportionment  is  given  to  any  town,  village  or  city  when 
they  have  actually  built  according  to  the  standard  demanded  by 
the  State  commissioner,  a  permanent  piece  of  road  or  street  costing  as 
much  as  the  State  aid  allotment  amounts  to. 

The  mileage  in  villages  and  cities,  of  course,  is  less  compared  to  the 
assessed  valuation  in  them,  than  is  the  mileage  of  roads  to  the  assessed 
valuation  in  towns. 

I  submit  herewith  a  table  showing  the  money  tax  paid  by  each  town, 
village  or  city  in  Chittenden  county,  Vermont,  and  the  amount  allotted 
to  each,  and  the  amount  of  permanent  work  done,  and  the  amount  act- 
ually received. 

A  close  perusal  of  this  table  is  instructive  and  shows  better  than  words 
can  explain,  the  equity  of  State  aid  for  permanent  inter-town  highways. 

For  instance,  Burlington  is  the  metropolis  of  this  section  of  the  State, 
and  pays  a  road  fund  tax  of  f6,611.08,  and  as  the  State  apportionment 
is  $6.07  per  mile,  and  the  city  has  fifty-five  miles  of  streets  and  roads, 
it  gets  an  allotment  of  $333.85  for  its  own  permanent  work,  and  con- 
tributes $6,277.23  to  the  State  aid  fund.  But  Burlington  is  what  the 
surrounding  territory  has  made  it,  and  can  well  afford  to  make  a  contri- 
bution to  build  roads  into  Burlington. 

This  plan  also  resolves  itself  into  a  permanent  school  of  instruction. 
The  commissioner  demanding  a  certain  high  standard  of  road  building, 
makes  it  obligatory  upon  the  part  of  every  town  to  inquire  what  that 
standard  is,  and  how  to  build  so  as  to  make  sure  that  the  roads  built 
will  be  accepted  as  up  to  that  standard,  that  they  may  be  sure  to  receive 
the  State  aid  allotted  to  them. 

A  five  per  cent  tax  in  Vermont  is  the  same  as  a  one  per  cent  in  Michi- 
gan, and  if  we  should  tax  one  per  cent  for  good  roads,  there  would  be  an 
allotment  of  $12  per  mile,  which  would  amount  to  about  $800  per  town- 
ship. But  no  township  would  be  obliged  to  build  $1,600  worth  of  perma- 
they  would  draw  from  the  State  aid  fund,  provided,  the  Vermont  plan 
with  the  amendment  that  I  advocate  is  adopted. 


STATE  OF  VERMONT. 

To  the  Road  Commissioners  in  the  Several  Towns  in  the  State: 

Pursuant  to  Article  2  of  an  act  approved  Dec.  1,  1898,  entitled  "An 
act  to  improve  the  public  roads  and  establish  the  Vermont  Highway 
Commission,"  this  circular  letter  is  issued : 


AN   ACT  TO   IMPROVE   THE   PUBLIC   ROADS   AND   ESTABLISH   THE    VERMONT    HIGH- 
WAY   COMMISSION. 

It  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Vermont: 

SECTION  1.  On  and  after  Dec.  1,  1898,  there  shall  be  a  State  Highway 
Commissioner  with  the  powers  and  duties  hereinafter  described.  Said 
commissioner  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate  and  shall  hold  office  two  years  from  and  after  his 
appointment.  A  vacancy  occurring  while  the  General  Assembly  is  not  in 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  23 

session  shall  be  filled  by  appointment,  by  the  Governor,  until  the  next 
sitting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

SEC.  2.  Said  commissioner  shall  l^ave  supervision,  through  the  town 
commissioners,  of  the  expenditure  of  all  moneys  appropriated  by  the 
State  for  permanent  highway  improvement,  and  shall  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible date  in  each  year  ascertain  and  report  to  each  town  the  amount  of 
money  that  it  will  be  entitled  to  under  the  apportionment  for  that  year. 
He  shall  also  issue  a  circular  letter  to  the  road  commissioners  of  each 
town  in  the  State,  stating  what  kind  of  work  will  be  considered  perma- 
nent work  under  this  act,  and  shall  give  such  advice  as  to  the  most  ad- 
visable materials  to  be  used,  the  proper  methods  of  drainage,  the  proper 
construction  of  culverts,  etc.,  and  shall  make  such  other  suggestions  as 
will  tend  to  aid  the  town  commissioners  in  properly  expending  the  money 
in  permanent  road  work. 

SEC.  3.  The  State  tax  for  the  benefit  of  highways  shall  hereafter  be 
used  to  permanently  rebuild  or  repair  portions  of  the  main  thoroughfares 
in  each  town,  and  in  no  case  shall  a  town  be  entitled  to  its  share  of  the 
State  tax  raised  for  highway  improvement  until  it  has  complied  with 
the  provisions  of  this  act.  Such  tax  shall  be  expended  by  the  road  com- 
missioner in  each  town  annually,  with  the  approval  of  the  selectmen, 
and  he  shall  annually,  upon  blanks  to  be  furnished  by  the  State  com- 
missioner, make  to  him  a  detailed  report  subscribed  and  sworn  to  before 
a  notary  or  a  justice  of  the  peace,  showing  the  number  of  roads  so  built 
or  repaired  by  the  State  commissioner,  and  the  same  shall  be  approved 
by  the  selectmen. 

On  receipt  of  said  report  the  State  Commissioner  shall  examine  the 
same,  and  in  all  cases  where  he  is  satisfied  that  the  town  has  properly 
expended  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  a  sum  of  money  equal  at  least 
to  its  apportionment  of  the  State  Highway  Tax  as  provided  for  in  Sec- 
tion 3438  of  the  Vermont  Statutes,  he  shall  issue  his  certificate  to  the 
State  treasurer  for  the  full  amount  of  said  town's  apportionment;  but 
in  case  it  shall  appear  to  the  State  commissioner  that  any  town  has  not 
expended,  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  its 
apportionment  of  the  State  Highway  Tax,  he  shall  issue  his  certificate  to 
the  State  treasurer  in  favor  of  said  town  for  only  such  portion  as  he  is 
satisfied  has  been  truly  and  faithfully  expended  in  permanent  work  as 
provided  for  by  this  act. 

SEC.  4.  The  State  treasurer  is  hereby  directed  to  pay  each  town  the 
amount  of  money  called  for  by  the  certificates  of  the  State  Highway 
Commissioner. 

SEC.  5.  Any  unexpended  moneys  of  the  State  highway  tax  that  remain 
in  the  treasury  at  the  end  of  the  year,  shall  be  carried  over  and  added  to 
the  moneys  raised  and  apportioned  the  following  year. 

SEC.  6.  The  road  commissioners  of  the  several  towns  in  the  different 
counties  are  hereby  constituted  county  boards  of  road  commissioners, 
and  each  board  shall  annually  hold  at  least  one  meeting  at  such  time  and 
place  as  the  State  commissioner  may  direct,  to  consider  such  matters 
as  he  may  present  to  their  attention,  and  to  discuss  such  matters  of  road 
improvement  as  may  be  of  special  interest  to  such  board. 

SEC.  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  State  commissioner  to  meet  the 
county  board  as  provided  for  in  section  six  of  this  act  and  in  his  dis- 
cretion to  provide  experts  for  instruction  in  road  maintenance  and  in 


24  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

road  building,  and  he  may  personally  direct  in  the  execution  of  work 
of  the  town  commissioners. 

SEC.  8.  The  commissioner  shall  report  to  the  General  Assembly  at 
its  next  biennial  session  the  condition  of  the  highways  in  the  State,  the 
progress  being  made  in  permanent  repairs,  together  with  any  recom- 
mendations calculated  to  secure  better  roads  and  inculcate  improved 
economical  practices  among  the  road  commissioners,  the  expense  of  which 
report,  together  with  the  expense  of  blanks,  stationary,  postage  and  other 
necessary  expenses  shall  be  paid  by  the  State. 

SEC.  9.  The  State  commissioner  shall  receive  in  full  compensation 
for  his  services  four  dollars  per  day  and  traveling  expenses  while  actually 
engaged  in  the  duties  pertaining  to  this  office,  and  the  State  auditor  is 
hereby  directed  to  draw  his  order  on  the  treasury  for  said  amount  to- 
gether with  other  necessary  expenses  incurred  and  provided  for  under 
this  act,  when  they  shall  have  been  provided  by  the  Governor. 

SEC.  10.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  with  this  act  are 
hereby  repealed. 

SEC.  11.    This  act  shall  take  effect  from  its  passage. 

Approved  December  1,  1898. 

P.  S. — In  Legislature  of  1902,  they  have  passed  a  local  option  license 
law  with  a  proviso  that  three-fourths  of  the  income  shall  be  paid  into  the 
State  Aid  Koad  Fund. 

In  defining  what  will  be  considered  as  State  road  work  entitling  towns 
to  a  claim  for  State  aid  under  the  law,  the  scope  of  work  will  be  con- 
fined to  road  building. 

Expense  incurred  for  ordinary  repairs  or  maintenance  cannot  be 
allowed. 

Claims  for  State  aid  may  be  made  for  kinds  of  work  as  follows : 


PAVEMENTS  IN  CITIES  AND  VILLAGES. 

All  pavements  made  of  asphalt,  vitrified  brick,  granite  block,  macadam, 
gravel,  or  other  good  road  material  laid  on  Telford  or  other  good  founda- 
tion and  built  under  the  direction  of  a  civil  engineer  or  road  expert. 


COUNTRY  ROADS. 

The  lack  of  modern  road  building  machinery  in  the  rural  towns  is 
considered,  and  claims  may  be  substantiated  for  building  roads  of  stones 
and  gravel  under  the  following  directions : 


LOCATION. 

The  work  to  be  laid  out  on  such  section  of  a  public  thoroughfare  in 
town  as  the  selectmen  and  road  commissioner  have  approved,  and  the  se- 
lection of  location  should  be  by  fair  judgment  rather  than  by  personal  or 
partisan  motives. 

It  is  better  that  the  work  be  done  on  one  continuous  section  rather 
than  to  be  divided  and  distributed  over  different  parts  of  the  town,  as 
has  sometimes  been  done  to  gratify  personal  interest. 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE.     1901-1902.  25 


GRADES. 

Our  roads  were  laid  out  when  heavy  grades  were  not  objectionable 
and  people  seemed  to  think  it  a  privilege  to  go  over  a  hill  rather  than  to 
go  round  it.  Generally  the  roads  in  Vermont  begin  in  remote  sections  and 
follow  down  the  valleys  joining  other  roads  in  their  course  and  forming 
the  main  roads  or  thoroughfares  that  lead  from  village  to  village,  term- 
inating at  the  cities  or  business  centers.  Hills  were  not  avoided.  Where 
roads  could  have  been  built  on  an  easy  five  per  cent  grade,  we  now  have 
the  steep  troublesome  hills,  hard  to  travel  and  difficult  to  maintain. 

Many  of  the  country  roads  should  be  re-located  and  built  on  an  easy 
grade  where  the  layout  of  farms  and  community  interest  can  conform  to 
such  a  change,  but  as  discontinuing  and  establishing  new  roads  is  a  town 
matter,  the  proposition  in  this  connection  is  suggestive  only.  However, 
under  our  plan  of  permanently  building  sections  of  road,  much  can  be 
done  to  reduce  heavy  grades  by  cutting  down  the  road  at  the  apex  of 
the  hills  and  using  the  material  for  road  construction,  and  I  ask  the  town 
commissioners  to  consider  this  in  their  operations  of  road  building.  In 
such  cases  the  expense  of  reducing  grades  should  be  considered  as  Inci- 
dental and  not  charged  as  State  work. 


DRAINAGE. 

Water  is  the  most  destructive  agent  to  roads,  and  many  bad  roads 
can  be  changed  to  good  ones  by  drainage  alone. 

Drainage  is  the  first  and  most  important  step  in  road  building,  and 
no  State  money  will  be  expended  upon  any  section  of  road  until  that 
section  has  been  well  drained. 

Legitimate  work  done  under  this  head  will  be,  conveying  or  taking 
away  the  surface  water  by  open  gutters  or  ditches,  well  made  not  less 
than  one  foot  wide  at  bottom,  of  even  grade,  giving  a  true  flow  line,  with 
no  pockets  for  standing  water  or  loose  material ;  covered  ditches  made  of 
tile  or  stone,  or  fills  to  prevent  standing  water  adjacent  to  or  standing 
upon  the  highway,  and  also  subdrainage  by  underdrains  where  needed. 


FOUNDATION. 

All  roads  must  have  permanent  foundation.  If  material  conditions  do 
not  afford  it  then  an  artificial  foundation  must  be  laid. 

The  material  to  be  stone,  always  placed  by  hand,  with  the  broadest 
side  or  edge  down,  points  projecting  up,  the  top  course  broken  and  all 
sharp  points  broken  down  to  an  easy  surface,  the  interstices  well  chinked 
in  and  the  whole  well  rammed  down,  the  stone  work  not  less  than  eight 
inches  in  thickness. 

SURFACING. 

Broken  stone  or  gravel  of  good  quality  should  be  used.  If  in  any 
towns  broken  stone  or  good  gravel  is  not  available  then  the  next  best 
road  material  that  can  be  had  may  be  used.  But  we  insist  upon  good 
material.  Towns  upon  the  line  of  a  railroad  ran  usually  arrange  with 

4 


26  STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 

the  company  to  deliver  good  road  building  material  on  platform  cars 
cheaper  than  it  can  be  hauled  by  teams  a  few  miles.  The  railroad  com- 
panies are  interested  in  the  improvement  of  highways  and  will  give  con- 
cessionary rates. 

This  shall  be  placed  upon  foundation  prepared  as  before  described, 
or  where  natural  conditions  make  good  and  sufficient  foundation,  and  to 
be  not  less  than  six  inches  thick  after  it  is  compacted  and  finished,  well 
crowned,  with  sufficient  slope  from  center  to  sides  to  freely  carry  off  all 
water.  It  shall  be  of  sufficient  width  to  accommodate  the  travel.  On 
ordinary  country  roads  a  well  built  track  twelve  feet  wide,  with  good 
shoulders,  should  be  ample.  To  secure  a  well  built  track  twelve  feet  wide 
the  material  should  not  be  spread  wider  than  six  feet,  for  in  the  ordinary 
process  of  compacting  it  will  naturally  spread  to  the  desired  width  before 
it  becomes  hard  and  firm. 


COMPACTING   AND   FINISHING. 

We  shall  insist  upon  roads  being  finished  by  being  well  compacted 
and  of  good,  even  form.  This  in  the  past  has  been  neglected. 

It  may  be  done  by  a  roller  of  not  less  than  four  tons  weight  when  the 
material  is  wet,  or  by  other  means  as  efficient.  Where  no  road  roller 
is  available  the  work  may  be  done  with  a  road  machine  and  one  pair  of 
horses,  with  the  blade  of  the  machine  set  so  as  to  fill  ruts  and  all  depres- 
sions, making  a  smooth  and  even  surface,  going  over  and  back,  thus  dress- 
ing both  sides  of  the  road.  This  should  always  be  done  when  the  material 
is  wet;  after  a  good  soaking  rain  is  the  proper  time,  and  this  should 
be  repeated  as  often  as  necessary  to  secure  a  good  shapely  road  with 
hard,  smooth  and  solid  surface.  All  loose  stones  should  be  removed  as 
often  as  they  appear. 

If  the  process  of  finishing  is  neglected  we  shall  discount  the  claim, 
deducting  a  sum  to  cover  the  loss  or  depreciation  to  the  road  in  con- 
sequence of  this  neglect. 

SHOULDERS. 

In  constructing  country  roads,that  part  between  the  traveled  track  and 
the  side  ditches,  and  known  as  the  shoulders,  should  be  maintained.  The 
width  of  the  shoulder  will  depend  upon  location  of  road  and  amount  of 
travel.  An  eighteen  foot  road  should  have  a  well  built  track  of  twelve 
feet,  with  three  foot  shoulders.  This  part  of  the  road  may  be  good  earth 
or  loam  that  will  be  hard  and  firm  to  support  passing  teams,  with  suffi- 
cient slope  towards  the  gutters  to  carry  off  all  waters  from  the  traveled 
track. 

An  evil  has  grown  out  of  the  misuse  of  the  road  machine  in  destroying 
the  road  shoulders,  thereby  narrowing  up  the  road,  and  making  an 
abomination.  In  all  new  road  work  ample  shoulders  must  be  maintained, 
conforming  to  suggestions  here  given. 


WIDTH   OF  ROAD. 

No  prescribed  limit  can  be  given  for  all  roads.     Width  will  depend 
upon  local  conditions  of  traffic  or  travel. 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  21 

\  good  standard  for  country  roads  is  eighteen  feet,  with  well  built 
track  of  twelve  feet  and  three  foot  shoulders. 

Hut  near  villages  with  frequent  passing  of  teams  a  wider  road  is 
necessary,  with  corresponding  width  of  track  and  shoulders.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  population  is  sparse,  a  track  of  ten  or  even  nine  feet, 
with  shoulders  proportioned,  would  be  sufficient. 


CULVERTS. 

To  be  built  of  stone,  the  abutment  walls  thoroughly  built  on  founda- 
tions well  prepared,  the  covering  stones  well  chinked,  giving  good  even 
bearing  upon  the  walls,  cracks  between  covering  stones  covered  with 
flat  stones,  and.  where  it  is  practicable,  cover  the  whole  with  small  stones 
well  pounded  down  with  stone  hammer,  and  cover  with  gravel. 

Culverts  may  be  made  of  iron  pipe  or  vitrified  tile  where  stones  are 
not  obtainable,  but  should  be  so  laid  as  to  avoid  being  destroyed  by  the 
action  of  frost,  either  by  bursting  or  displacement.  Tile  or  pipe  should 
be  protected  on  top,  guarding  against  breakage  from  heavily  loaded 
teams. 

Culverts  may  be  built  on  any  of  the  roads  in  town  where  old  ones  of 
wood  need  rebuilding. 

NO  OTHER  WORK. 

Xo  other  class  or  kind  of  work  will  be  accepted,  except  in  special  cases 
that  have  been  referred  to  and  approved  by  the  State  highway  commis- 
sioner, before  work  has  begun. 


TIME     LIMIT. 

All  State  road  work  must  be  completed  and  claim  for  the  same  made 
to  this  office  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  September  next.  Towns  not 
complying  with  this  rule  will  not  receive  their  apportionment  of  State 
money. 

COMMISSIONERS   SIIorLD   KEEP  ACCOUNTS. 

Road  commissioners  should  understand  that  they  are  'buihlinfj  as  well 
as  maintaining  roads. 

The  apportionment  of  State  aid,  together  with  such  portion  of  the 
town  road  fund  as  is  not  required  for  the  care  and  maintenance  of  the 
roads,  should  be  used  for  building  permanent  work,  and  a  detailed  ac- 
count kept  and  returned  to  this  olhVe.  whirh  will  constitute  a  claim  for 
State  aid. 

It  may  be  thought  the  claim  blanks  are  too  complicated  or  exacting 
and  I  beg  to  remind  the  commissioners  that  Section  3  of  Xo.  65  of  the 
laws  of  1SDS  requires  that  the  State  commissioner  shall  be  "satisfied" 
l>efore  certifying  the  payment  to  any  town,  and  as  there  is  no  provision 
for  a  general  inspection  of  the  work,  it  becomes  necessary  that  the  ac- 
counts be  so  kept  that  the  work  can  be  comprehended  and  understood. 


26  STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 

Some  towns  came  short  of  receiving  their  full  apportionment  the  past 
year  by  reason  of  this  neglect.  Our  plan  of  granting  State  aid  was  new 
and  imperfect.  Beneficial  changes  have  been  made  and  to  perfect  a  good 
working  system  other  changes  are  necessary,  and  I  ask  the  co-operation 
and  help  of  the  town  commissioners. 

The  State  commissioner  will  be  found  ready  to  render  what  assistance 
he  may  that  towns  receive  their  apportionment  of  State  aid.  But  it. 
must  be  through  well  built  roads  and  by  the  regulations  prescribed. 


SUGGESTIONS. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

For  purposes  of  State  road  work,  the  public  highways  should  be  con- 
sidered in  two  classes.  First,  city  and  village  streets;  second,  country 
roads. 

Regarding  the  first  class  we  have  but  little  concern,  cities  and  larger 
villages  having  the  necessary  machinery  for  modern  road  building. 
Under  the  direction  of  skilled  experts,  the  good  work  of  building  sci- 
entifically constructed  pavements  is  fast  progressing.  It  is  the  second 
class,  country  roads,  that  calls  for  greater  attention.  For  the  improve- 
ment of  these  roads  the  movement  for  State  aid  for  public  roads  was 
inaugurated — not  to  assist  towns  in  caring  for  maintaining  or  repairing 
their  roads,  but,  after  towns  have  made  their  usual  appropriations  and 
expenditures  for  roads,  then  to  go  farther  and  do  more  by  building  each 
year  a  portion  of  road  in  a  substantial  and  permanent  manner. 


ROAD   BUILDING. 

In  road  building  there  are  several  steps  or  processes  to  be  considered* 
We  shall  speak  of  them  as  drainage,  foundation,  material,  applying  the 
material,  or  compacting  and  finishing.  In  prescribing  general  rules, 
we  meet  the  difficulty  of  the  unequal  conditions  in  the  various  sections 
of  the  State.  In  some  localities  clay  abounds,  making  deep  mud  in  wet 
seasons.  In  other  places  sand  roads  are  an  abomination  in  dry  weather, 
while  in  other  parts  of  the  State  the  natural  condition  of  the  soil  makes 
it  a  good  road  material,  and  roads  may  be  maintained  at  a  comparatively 
small  cost.  But  in  all  localities  and  in  every  town,  there  are  sections  of 
road  that  may  be  permanently  improved  as  contemplated  by  State  leg- 
islation. 

The  selectmen,  together  with  the  road  commissioner,  having  deter- 
mined upon  the  section  of  highway  to  be  improved  it  should  be  carefully 
examined  to  learn  the  cause  of  its  badness.  Probably  it  is  a  chronic 
case  of  bad  road,  and  the  difficulty  most  likely  will  be  found  in  defective 
foundation.  No  road  can  stand  the  climatic  changes  of  our  latitude 
without  a  good  foundation  and  this  implies 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  29 


DRAINAGE. 

Water  is  the  great  destroyer  of  country  roads.  It  not  only  washes 
away  the  surface  material,  but  it  destroys  the  foundation,  and  makes  all 
the  mud.  It  may  come  from  springs,  and  in  such  cases  ditches  should 
be  provided,  and  where  necessary,  underdrains,  either  of  stone  or  tile,  to 
convey  the  water  where  it  will  do  no  harm  to  the  road.  But  often  the 
trouble  is  caused  by  water  standing  in  pools  by  the  road  side.  Deep 
side  ditches,  having  no  outlet,  and  holding  water,  should  be  provided 
with  an  outlet,  or  filled  with  earth  to  exclude  the  water.  Depressions 
or  holes,  as  often  made  by  the  road  machine,  or  shallow  places  from  any 
cause,  where  water  may  stand,  whether  upon  or  beside  the  road,  should 
be  filled.  Where  water  stands  in  pools  by  the  roadside,  especially  during 
the  fall  months,  the  whole  structure  of  the  road  is  thoroughly  filled  with 
water  by  capillary  attraction,  as  it  fills  a  sponge,  making  deep  mud  in 
fall,  and  the  thawing  process  in  the  spring  destroys  the  road.  So  we 
cannot  have  good  roads  of  whatever  material  made,  or  however  well  built, 
unless  sufficient  drainage  be  provided.  Often  drainage  and  foundation 
can  both  be  secured  by  raising  the  road-bed  above  the  conditions  that 
have  operated  to  keep  it  back. 


FOUNDATION. 

Stone  is  the  best  material  for  foundation,  and  can  generally  be  had 
from  old  field  walls,  and  often  by  the  roadside.  They  should  never  be 
dumped  and  left  loose  upon  the  roadbed,  but  always  packed  by  hand,  by  a 
man  who  has  skill  and  knack  for  that  kind  of  work.  The  large  stones 
should  be  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  roadbed  with  the  larger  ends  down, 
the  flat  shaped  ones  on  a  border  in  a  straight  line.  Ten  feet  in  width  is 
sufficient  on  the  common  thoroughfares,  and  of  less  width  where  there  is 
less  travel.  The  stone  should  be  placed  to  make  a  shapely  form  of  road, 
well  crowned,  so  that  when  covered  it  will  shed  water.  The  small  stones 
should  be  placed  on  top,  and  stone  hammers  of  about  six  pounds  might 
be  freely  used,  breaking  off  the  projecting  points  and  crushing  the  smaller 
stones,  the  fragments  filling  the  interstices.  When  this  part  of  the  work 
is  well  done  we  have  a  good  road  foundation. 

Another  section  of  road  may  be  shapely  and  in  good  condition  during 
the  summer  season,  but  in  the  late  fall  and  spring  seasons  deep  mud 
makes  it  almost  impassible.  There  is  no  surface  water  to  indicate  the 
cause  of  trouble,  and  evidently  it  comes  from  underground  or  sub-soil 
conditions.  In  such  cases  we  have  found  a  cure  by  putting  in  stone  foun- 
dations as  follows :  Go  at  it  while  the  mud  is  deepest  and  excavate, 
shoveling  out  a  space  of  about  seven  feet  wide  in  a  straight  line  in  the 
middle  of  the  road,  to  a  depth  indicated  by  good  judgment  when  upon 
the  spot,  and  put  in  a  stone  foundation  as  in  the  other  case,  being  care- 
ful in  the  packing,  and  freely  using  the  stone  hammer.  Two  or  three 
men  with  a  team  can  do  this  work  to  advantage.  After  the  work  is 
begun  one  or  two  men  should  work  forward,  shoveling  the  mud  back 
upon  the  stone  work  finished  while  the  team  is  after  more  stone,  and  so 
the  work  progresses. 


30  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 


ROAD  MATERIAL. 

Water  washed  gravel,  such  as  may  be  found  along  the  borders  of  our 
creeks  and  rivers,  stands  first.  It  is  my  judgment  that  a  well  built  gravel 
road  is  preferable  to  a  macadam  road  for  country  towns.  I  am  aware 
that  many  advocate  the  superiority  of  macadam  roads,  and  people  seem 
to  hold  back  and  wait  for  their  coming.  The  macadam  system  has  its 
place  with  the  other  kinds  of  permanent  pavements  for  city  and  village 
streets,  and  where  there  are  public  interest  and  facilities  for  their  care 
and  preservation.  The  first  cost  of  such  roads  is  against  their  becoming 
general  in  rural  sections.  Also  the  cost  of  repairs,  which  is  said  to  be 
sixty  dollars  per  mile  after  the  first  year's  use,  does  not  commend  them 
to  Vermont,  where  the  expense  for  road  maintenance  in  1896  was  thirty- 
three  dollars  per  mile  (average),  and  it  was  claimed  that  under  that 
treatment  the  roads  were  improving.  Good  gravel  roads  have  been  built 
in  Vermont  for  |200  per  mile  for  the  surfacing, when  the  length  of  haul 
averaged  one-half  mile,  using  six  hundred  loads  per  mile. 

Where  water-washed  gravel  cannot  be  obtained,  we  must  resort  to 
banks  or  pits,  and  here  we  should  discriminate,  for  in  these  glacial  de- 
posits is  found  road  material  of  wide  range  in  quality.  Eoad  commis- 
sioners should  search  for  the  best  road  material  available.  It  has  oc- 
curred that  a  town  has  used  for  years  a  good  quality  of  gravel,  but  by 
research  it  has  found  another  bank  or  pit  of  superior  quality  that  could 
be  placed  upon  the  road  as  cheaply  as  the  other. 

It  would  bring  profit  to  many  towns  if  the  proper  authorities  would 
carefully  explore  the  roadsides  and  adjacent  lands  to  discover  road  ma- 
terial of  good  quality. 

The  importance  of  this  is  appreciated  when  we  consider  that  the  cost 
of  material  in  road  building  is  probably  not  five  per  cent  of  the  total  sum. 
The  ninety-five  per  cent  for  labor  should  be  intelligently  directed  upon 

suitable  material. 

• 

SURFACING. 

In  surfacing  a  road,  the  work  should  be  well  organized.  The  number 
of  shovelers  should  be  proportioned  to  the  number  of  teams  engaged, 
and  the  number  of  teams  regulated  by  the  distance  of  the  haul,  so  that 
there  may  be  little  or  no  delay  to  teams  or  men  by  waiting.  Beginning 
the  work  at  the  end  of  the  section  of  road  to  be  surfaced,,  nearest  to  the 
source  of  the  gravel,  in  this  way  each  loaded  team  passes  over  the  gravel 
already  applied,  and  returning  empty,  does  the  same.  This  helps  to  build 
the  road,  especially  if  there  is  no  road  roller  for  this  purpose.  A  man 
of  skill  should  have  charge  of  spreading  the  material,  and  the  loads 
should  be  spread  as  they  are  dumped.  In  this  way  the  material  is  evenly 
distributed. 

Other  means  are  sometimes  employed  for  spreading  the  gravel  by  the 
use  of  a  harrow  or  road  machine,  after  the  material  is  all  applied,  but  no 
amount  of  harrowing  the  surface  with  any  tool  will  secure  as  good  re- 
sults as  hand  spreading  as  each  load  is  dumped.  This  gives  not  only 
even  thickness  but  an  even  compactness  that  cannot  be  secured  by  dump- 
ing loads  one  after  another  and  simply  leveling  the  surface. 

We  should  know  that  we  are  building  an  artificial  floor,  which,  when 
finished,  should  have  an  even  surface,  hard  and  smooth,  without  depres- 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  31 

sions  where  water  may  stand  and  materially  damage  the  road.  The 
material  should  not  bespread  over  too  great  surface,  and  should  be  well 
rounded  up  in  the  middle.  Presuming  that  there  is  no  road  roller  for 
immediately  building  the  road  and  that  we  must  depend  upon  the 
ordinary  travel  upon  the  road  to  do  the  finishing,  better  results  will  be 
obtained  if  the  gravel  be  spread  not  much  wider  than  the  wheel  track. 
This  will  be  inconvenient  and  somewhat  discomforting  to  the  traveler, 
but  in  the  end  we  shall  have  a  better  road  than  by  covering  a  greater 
surface.  This  applies  to  common  roads.  Upon  village  streets,  and 
where  there  is  a  great  amount  of  travel,  more  surfacing  material  will  be 
required,  fitting  the  road  to  accommodate  the  amount. 

The  rural  lowns  not  having  machinery  for  road  building  will  find 
advantage  in  doing  this  work  as  early  in  the  spring  season  as  possible, 
when  the  frequent  rains  and  all  natural  conditions  are  most  favorable 
for  settling  and  making  firm  the  earth  and  the  roads. 

Tlic  ffmitt'xt  <irnrriil  fault  irith  our  roads  is  they  do  not  shed  water. 
A  road  when  finished,  and  at  all  times,  should  have  sufficient  grade  from 
center  to  side  drains  to  readily  carry  off  all  surface  water. 

We  should  bear  in  mind  that  surfacing  a  road  with  broken  stone, 
gravel  or  other  road  material,  is  but  one  step  in  the  process  of  road  build- 
ing. The  best  of  material,  however  well  applied,  does  not  build  a  road. 

The  next  operation  is 


COMPACTING    OR   FINISHING. 

For  the  want  of  proper  tools,  this  process  in  road  building  is  usually 
neglected,  and  often  entirely  disregarded,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the 
road.  To  secure  satisfactory  results  for  expense  already  incurred,  and  to 
have  a  good  road,  the  compacting  and  finishing  should  be  well  done, 
forming  a  hard,  smooth  floor  that  will  be  impervious  to  water,  and  over 
which  carriages  may  pass  without  impediment.  This  is  best  accom- 
plished by  using  a  road  roller  of  from  three  to  five  tons'  wreight,  when 
the  mad  material  is  sufficiently  wet  to  pack  or  set.  Xo  amount  of  roll- 
ing or  tamping  will  impact  or  bind  together  perfectly  dry  road  material. 
Fgr  success  in  this  work,  frequent  and  thorough  wetting  is  necessary. 
There  are  many  towns,  especially  those  that  have  large  villages,  that 
should  own  a  road  roller  for  building  their  streets.  In  considering  the 
process  of  finishing  a  road,  we  are  again  reminded  of  the  advantages  of 
doing  road  work  early  in  the  season  when  conditions  are  most  favorable. 
As  a  rule,  road  material  applied  later  than  the  first  of  October  will  not 
pack  and  Income  firm  until  the  following  summer.  It  serves  to  make 
mud  through  the  opening  season,  and  thawing  in  the  spring,  gives  deeper 
mud  till  nature's  settling  conditions  have  dried  it  out,  leaving  ruts 
and  an  uneven  surface.  It  is  a  mistake  to  put  off  road  work  until  the  fall 
months  when  it  is  possible  to  do  it  earlier. 

Where  there  is  no  road  roller,  the  only  available  means  for  compacting 
and  finishing  a  road  is  by  tramping  and  pounding  together  the  material 
l>y  means  of  the  travel  upon  it.  This  often  occasions  trouble,  as  incon- 
siderate persons  are  inclined  to  shun  the  unfinished  roadbed  and  drive 
upon  the  borders  where  the  traveling  is  easier.  Sometimes  it  becomes 
necessary  t<»  plan-  obstructions  upon  the  border  to  keep  the  travel  where 
it  belongs  to  do  the  necessary  work.  If  the  work  of  surfacing  is  carried 


32  STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 

on  as  suggested,  the  loaded  teams  passing  over  the  material  already 
spread  and  returning  empty,  a  good  beginning  has  been  made  and  a 
good  example  set  for  others. 

Road  commissioners  should  not  violate  the  law  by  using  or  employing 
narrow  tired  carts  or  wagons  upon  the  roads,  thereby  damaging  the  road 
they  are  trying  to  build.  If  towns  owned  two  carts  for  road  work,  with 
four-inch  tires,  and  the  forward  axle  eight  inches  the  shorter,  so  that  the 
wheels  would  cover  eight  inches  width  of  surface,  it  would  greatly  aid 
in  road  building,  they  being  a  partial  substitute  for  a  road  roller. 

When  the  new  road  becomes  rutted,  as  it  surely  will,  it  should  be  gone 
over  with  the  road  machine  set  light — just  to  fill  the  ruts  and  to  keep  the 
road  well  rounded  up  in  good  form.  This  should  be  done  immediately 
after  a  rain  and  the  operation  should  be  repeated  as  often  as  necessary 
until  the  road  is  thoroughly  compacted,  the  surface  forming  a  hard, 
smooth  floor  that  will  shed  water. 

When  a  section  of  road  is  built  it  should  be  cared  for.  Since  1893 
Vermont  has  been  engaged  in  permanent  road  building  in  a  small  way. 
At  least  a  pretense  of  building  in  every  town  a  section  of  permanent 
road  each  year  has  been  made.  It  is  probable  that  in  many,  if  not  most, 
of  the  rural  towns,  it  would  take  very  close  inspection  to  find  those  sec- 
tions called  permanent  roads,  as  distinguishable  from  the  common  high- 
ways, and  they  are  generally  in  poor  condition.  It  is  extravagant  and 
useless  to  build  good  roads  unless  they  be  protected  and  well  taken  care 
of.  This  brings  us  to  consider 


ROAD    MAINTENANCE. 

Roads  being  subject  to  continual  use  and  also  to  the  destroying  effects 
of  the  elements  and  the  changing  conditions  of  our  climate,  should  have 
constant  care.  Ordinarily  the  country  roads  do  not  wear  out,  but  by 
neglect  they  go  to  waste,  run  down  and  become  bad.  In  that  condition 
they  are  attacked  usually  about  once  a  year  by  a  gang  of  men  with  a 
road  machine,  operated  by  a  great  team  force.  The}'  proceed  to  break  up 
the  hard  settled  ground  and  scrape  up  on  the  surface  of  the  road  sods 
and  other  rubbish  utterly  unfit  for  road  material,  and  call  it  road  repair- 
ing. Roads  should  not  be  out  of  repair,  they  get  in  that  condition  only 
by  neglect.  A  road  poor  in  character  should  be  kept  so  it  will  get  no 
worse,  and  by  constant  attention  and  small  expense  it  should  slowly 
grow  better.  A  good  road  should  be  kept  always  good.  All  slight  defects 
should  be  discovered  and  remedied  at  once.  In  this  way  the  much  praised 
macadam  roads  in  France  and  other  countries  are  kept  and  maintained 
at  normal  expense  and  are  always  in  good  condition.  The  railroad 
corporations  would  become  bankrupt  should  they  practice  the  methods 
ordinarily  used  on  our  highways.  All  business  corporations  and  success- 
ful farmers  understand  the  necessity  of  watchful  care  that  their  plant, 
be  it  factory  or  farm,  is  continually  at  its  best  and  never  out  of  repair. 

Improved  methods  for  road  maintenance  have  been  adopted  by  many 
of  the  road  commissioners,  and  their  success  is  stimulating  others  to 
follow  their  example.  The  plan  most  -likely  to  become  general  is  for  the 
town  road  commissioner  to  delegate  the  care  of  the  roads  to  section  men, 
in  different  parts  of  the  town,  each  to  have  charge  of  a  definite  section 
conveniently  near  his  residence,  over  which  he  should  pass  as  often  as 


93 

25   "S 

y      o 

ll 

i 


fi 

ll 


a?  a 


!! 

^ 

g 

0) 

a 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  33 

necessary  to  protect  from  damage  by  running  water  from  the  melting 
snow  or  rains,  and  see  that  the  side  ditches  are  kept  open,  the  culverts 
clear,  slight  new  defects  remedied.  In  this  way  the  roads  are  kept  at  the 
lowest  possible  expense.  Experience  shows  that  under  this  management 
of  constant  care  they  gradually  improve.  By  substituting  this  practice 
for  the  old  and  extravagant  method  of  yearly  gang  work  for  maintaining 
roads,  a  great  saving  may  be  made  of  the  town's  money  that  could  be  used 
in  road  building. 

Another  advantage  of  this  plan  is  that  the  road  is  kept  clear  of  loose 
stones,  which  are  a  common  nuisance.  Loose  stones  upon  the  road  sur- 
face should  be  removed,  not  monthly  as  the  law  requires,  but  weekly, 
or  as  often  as  they  come  to  the  surface.  The  discomfort  they  cause  to 
the  traveler  is  great,  but  the  injury  they  do  to  the  road  is  of  more  ac- 
count. And  they  should  not  be  tolerated  for  a  day. 

The  best  time  for  shaping  up  earth  roads  is  in  the  spring,  when  the 
ground  is  plastic  and  easily  worked.  As  a  rule  when  the  earth  becomes 
settled  hard  and  firm  it  should  be  left  alone  for  that  season.  It  will 
require  great  force  to  break  it  up  in  mid-summer,  and  when  broken  it  is 
not  likely  to  be  as  well  set  and  firm  again  for  that  year.  The  broken 
surface  becomes  either  dust  or  mud,  according  to  the  weather. 

In  a  general  way  the  use  of  the  road  machine  is  too  much  depended 
upon  for  keeping  the  roads.  Where  roads  are  kept  by  section  men  they 
do  not  need  to  be  broken  up  yearly  by  the  machine.  Every  town  should 
own  at  least  one  good  road  machine  for  moving  earth  and  shaping  roads, 
and  the  well  built  roads  should  be  gone  over  in  the  late  fall  before  the 
ground  freezes,  again  in  the  early  spring,  and  occasionally  through  sum- 
mer to  keep  the  loose  material  in  place.  This  should  be  done  when  the 
surface  of  the  road  is  wet,  to  insure  compacting.  As  a  road  builder,  the 
machine  is  a  failure  unless  it  be  operated  on  good  road  material. 

Road  officials  should  not  necessarily  mar  or  deface  the  natural  attrac- 
tions of  the  roadsides;  but  rather,  they  should  do  their  work  in  a  way 
that  will  encourage  a  general  regard  for  roadside  beauty,  for  in  this 
there  is  value. 

The  movement  towards  the  use  of  wide-tired  carts  and  wagons  should 
be  fostered.  A  wagon  with  wide-rimmed  wheels  is  a  road  builder,  while 
the  narrow  tire  is  a  road  destroyer. 

Vermont  is  making  progress  in  road  improvement  on  the  plan  laid 
out  of  thoroughly  building  each  year  in  every  town,  a  section  of  road  in 
a  substantial  and  permanent  manner — securing  good  drainage,  laying 
foundation  where  necessary,  surfacing  with  suitable  material,  finishing 
well  the  surface,  under  a  system  of  maintenance  that  protects  and  keeps 
the  roads  at  their  best  and  in  all  times.  In  this  we  are  helped  by  bearing 
in  mind  what  a  road  is.  No  better  definition  can  be  given  than  one  by 
John  L.  Macadam,  who  was  the  originator  of  that  method  of  scientifically 
constructed  stone  roads  that  bear  his  name,  and  which  is  so  popular  in 
many  countries.  He  said:  "A  good  road  is  an  artificial  floor,  forming 
a  strong,  smooth,  solid  surface,  capable  of  carrying  great  weight,  and 
over  which  carriages  may  pass  without  impediment."  Let  such  a  road  be 
our  model.  J.  O.  SANFORD, 

State  Highway  Commissioner. 

Stamford,  Vt.,  March  4,  1902. 
5 


34 


STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 


Ctnttenden 


Number. 

Town. 

Commissioners. 

No.  of  years'  service. 

Miles  of  road. 

Five  per 

cent  tax 
paid. 

"2 

'3 

A 

a 
J» 

| 

'£ 
o 
o> 
W 

Drainage. 

o5 

1 
0 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 

13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 

Bolton       

M.  J.  Regan 

14 
4 
3 
3 

8 

3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 

2 
9 
3 
3 
1 
2 

28 
55 
76 
9 
64 
13 

59 
63 
45 
64 
91 
59 

6 
40 
30 
68 
59 
56 

$89  00 
6,611  08 
457  84 

$166  81 
32768 
452  79 
53  62 
381  29 
77  45 

Burlington.  

H  arold  S  te  vens  

Charlotte    

W.  C.  Scott  

Winooski  Village 

William  Devino 

Colchester  

Frank  Blakeley  

739  55 

Essex  Junction 

S.  D  Teachout 

Essex                .  . 

L.  J.  Bixby                

495  87 
381  10 
155  12 
321  08 
401  30 
334  76 

29  47 
534  52 
254  41 
25049 
216  05 
40227 

351  51 
375  33 
268  10 
381  29 
542  16 
351  51 

35  75 
238  31 
178  73 
405  12 
351  51 
333  64 

Hinesburg  

J.  M.  Cassidy  

Huntington             .  . 

A.  B.  Small        

Jericho 

M  B  Small 

70 

$12  00 

Milton     

N.  E.  Pheips    . 

Richmond 

W.  L  White 

4 

17  00 

St.  George 

Ira  Chase 

Shelburne  

W.  J.  Sheridan  

"26" 

269  00 
118  16 

South  Burlington 

R.  R.  Richardson 

Underbill 

J  P  Flynn 

Westford 

Fred  Or  ton         

Williston  

Daniel  McMahon  

r 

Petals 

885 

$11,773  91 

$5,272  00 

100 

$416  16 

A  5%  tax  in  Vermont,  based  on  her  grand  list  is  no  greater  tax  than  \%  would  be  on  Michigan's 
assessed  valuation. 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902. 


35 


County. 


Foundation. 

Surfacing. 

Compacting  and  finish- 
ing. 

Culverts. 

Expended  in  excess  of 
apportionment. 

Unexpended  balance 
of  apportionment. 

1 
| 

fc 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 

13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 

-" 

I 

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0) 

Si 

- 
•a 

£ 

^ 
« 

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3 

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, 

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105 
30H 
.145 
5 
64 
12 

205 
421 
200 
70 
117 
325 

15 

14 
26 
13 
12 
11 
18 

14 
8 

15 
12 

12 

8 

15 
8 
10 
12 
5 
15 

12 
7 
8 
12 
6 
12 

5 

$17060 
868  40 
225  00 
71   15 
153  85 
226  65 

51850 
375  00 
234  35 
143  20 
332  25 
151  50 

16  00 

$3  19 
54032 
82  21 
17  53 
1050 
357  85 

376  99 

Per 
125 

man 
16 

ent 
18 

$41000 

62 
12 

70 
50 
10 
70 
56 
25 

13 

40 
10 
35 

48 

112 

10 
18 

13 
10 
12 
13 
12 
12 

10 
10 
12 
11 
10 
10 

9 
10 

15 

8 
24 

18 

10 
22 

8 
12 

8 
12 
12 
8 

208  57 
126  65 

21000 
150  00 
3375 
223  30 
24480 
200  95 

30  00 
269  00 
5004 
87  49 
23540 
206  95 

.2 

$10  50 

-1 

$18  87 

$15  00 

164  67 

3 

11 
1 

4 

24  25 
76  00 
6  75 

12  00 

21  46 

66  89 
89  69 

2225 
30  69 
56  52 

3  56 
13  50 

5 

16  00 

10 
103 
68 
112 

12 
14 
15 
12 

8 
14 
8 
8 

67  45 
289  63 
136  40 
186  95 

1 

14  50 

2 

28  00 

20  29 
84  26 

1 

24  00 

738 

—  - 

.... 

12,687  80 

2,007}/s 

$4,16628 

$31  50 

24 

$181  50 

7 

$49  37 

$1,945  31 

36  STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 


CONNECTICUT  PLAN. 

I  beg  to  call  your  attention,  first,  to  the  fact  that  this  law  was  enacted 
by  a  unanimous  vote. 

This  was  a  remarkable  proceeding,  but  it  simply  shows  what  the  pre- 
vailing sentiment  is  in  regard  to  permanent  inter-town  roads  in  that 
eastern  portion  of  our  country. 

Most  remarkable  on  account  of  the  fact  that  while  the  State  pays  either 
two-thirds  or  three-fourths  of  the  expense  of  building  these  State  roads, 
that  the  senators  and  representatives  from  the  cities  and  villages  should 
unanimously  vote  to  tax  their  districts  to  build  inter-town  roads. 

The  Connecticut  plan  is  like  the  Vermont,  only  more  so,  that  of  the 
rich  towns,  cities  and  corporations  aiding  the  poorer  towns,  and  because 
they  believe  that  the  benefits  of  inter-town  roads  are  commensurate  with 
the  expense  of  securing  them. 

It  is  certain  that  if  the  farms  of  New  England  can  stand  the  necessary 
tax  to  build  permanent  roads  with  the  assistance  of  that  which  comes 
from  the  cities,  villages  and  corporations,  Michigan  farms  can. 

We  have  no  more  miles  of  road  in  a  town  on  the  average  than  they, 
yet  we  have  many  times  more  of  acres  of  productive  land  and  also  much 
more  productive,  which  makes  more  to  transport,  and  more  need  of  good 
roads  and  more  saved  by  having  them. 


CONNECTICUT  ROAD  LAW. 

CHAPTER  CLXXV 
AN  ACT  TO   PROVIDE  FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT   OF  PUBLIC  ROADS. 

General  Assembly, 
January  Session,  A.  D.  1899. 

Be  it  enacted  ~by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 

Assembly  convened: 

SECTION  1.  There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  before  the  rising  of  this  General  Assembly, 
and  every  four  years  thereafter,  on  or  before  May  first,  a  highway  com- 
missioner, who  shall  hold  office  for  four  years  from  the  first  day  of  July 
next  succeeding  his  appointment  and  until  his  successor  is  chosen  and 
qualified.  If  any  vacancy  occur  the  Governor  shall  appoint  a  highway 
commissioner  to  fill  such  vacancy  until  the  rising  of  the  next  succeeding 
General  Assembly. 

SEC.  2.  The  commissioner  shall  be  a  capable  and  experienced  road- 
builder,  and  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  three  thousand  dollars,  and 
shall  be  allowed  his  actual  traveling  expenses  while  officially  employed, 
not  to  exceed  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  any  one  year,  and  shall 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  37 

be  allowed  his  office  expenses,  not  to  exceed  three  thousand  dollars  in  any 
one  year. 

SEC.  3.  The  comptroller  shall  furnish  the  commissioner  with  a  suit- 
able office  at  the  capitol,  with  the  necessary  furniture  and  stationery  for 
the  same,  where  his  records  shall  be  preserved  and  which  office  shall  be 
kept  open  at  such  times  as  the  business  of  the  commissioner  shall  require. 

SEC  4.  The  commissioner  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  proceedings  and 
orders  pertaining  to  the  matters  under  his  direction,  and  copies  of  all 
plans,  specifications  and  estimates  submitted  to  him.  The  commissioner 
shall  prepare  and  submit  to  the  General  Assembly  an  annual  report  of 
his  doings. 

SEC.  5.  Whenever  any  town  shall  have  declared  its  intention  to  build 
a  public  road  or  section  thereof,  within  such  town,  or  to  improve  the 
same,  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  selectmen  of  such  town,  with 
the  approval  of  the  highway  commissioner,  shall  select  a  highway  or  por- 
tion thereof  to  be  so  built  or  improved  and  shall  cause  all  necessary  sur- 
veys to  be  made  and  submit  the  same  to  the  highway  commissioner  for  ap- 
proval. Specifications  shall  be  prepared  by  the  highway  commissioner, 
and  shall  require  the  construction  of  a  macadamized,  or  Telford  or  other 
stone  road,  or  other  road  satisfactory  to  the  highway  commissioner  and 
the  selectmen  of  the  town  in  which  the.  road  is  to  be  constructed,  and 
shall  be  so  prepared  that  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  pro- 
posed improvement  can  be  ascertained.  For  improvements  to  cost  five 
hundred  dollars  or  less  it  shall  be  discretionary  with  the  commissioner 
to  allow  the  town  to  do  the  work  without  competition;  but  where  the 
cost  of  the  improvement  is  to  be  over  five  hundred  dollars,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  board  of  selectmen,  after  the  approval  of  the  plans  by  the 
commissioner,  to  advertise  in  two  daily  newspapers  having  a  circulation 
in  the  county  in  which  such  town  is  located,  for  a  period  of  one  week  for 
bids  to  do  the  work,  according  to  the  plans  and  specifications  prepared. 
Such  advertisements  shall  state  the  place  where  the  bidder  can  see  the 
plans  and  specifications,  and  the  amount  of  a  bond  which  must  accom- 
pany a  bid,  and  shall  name  the  place  where  the  selectmen  will  meet  to 
receive  bids  and  the  time  for  opening  the  same.  Every  such  bid  shall  be 
accompanied  with  a  bond  signed  by  the  bidder  and  one  or  more  sureties 
satisfactory  to  the  selectmen,  in  such  sum,  not  less  than  one-third  of  the 
cost  of  the  construction  of  the  work,  as  the  selectmen  shall  determine, 
conditioned  that,  if  the  contract  shall  be  awarded  to  the  bidder,  he  will, 
when  required  by  the  selectmen,  execute  an  agreement  in  writing  to  per- 
form the  work  according  to  said  plans  and  specifications.  All  bids  so 
submitted  shall  be  immediately  and  publicly  read  at  the  time  for  open- 
ing the  same,  as  stated  in  said  advertisements,  and  referred  to  the  high- 
way commissioner  for  his  approval.  The  selectmen  and  the  commissioner 
shall  have  the  right  to  reject  any  or  all  bids,  if,  in  their  opinion,  good 
cause  exists  therefor,  but  otherwise  they  shall  award  the  contract  to  the 
lowest  bidder.  The  successful  bidder  shall  give  satisfactory  evidence  of 
his  ability  to  perform  the  contract  and  shall  also  furnish  a  bond  for  one- 
third  of  the  amount  of  the  cost  of  construction  of  the  work,  conditioned 
that  the  work  shall  be  performed  in  accordance  with  the  plans  and  speci- 
fications and  terms  of  the  contract,  and  no  member  of  the  firm  bidding  on 
the  work  shall  be  accepted  as  a  bondsman.  When  the  contract  is  executed 
by  the  selectmen,  the  highway  commissioner,  and  the  successful  bidder 


38  STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 

a  copy  of  the  contract,  with  an  estimated  cost  of  the  work,  shall  be  forth- 
with filed  with  the  highway  commissioner.  Whenever  the  selectmen  of 
any  town  shall  desire  in  behalf  of  such  town  to  do  the  work  of  improving 
a  public  road  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  they  shall  submit  their 
bids  to  the  highway  commissioner  at  least  one  day  prior  to  the  day  speci- 
fied for  the  opening  of  the  other  bids,  as  stated  in  the  advertisement  for 
bids;  and  all  bids  submitted  in  behalf  of  towns  shall  be  subject  to  the 
requirements  made  and  provided  for  in  this  act.  No  bids  in  behalf  of 
towns  shall  be  opened  by  the  highway  commissioner  until  after  the  other 
bids  for  the  same  work  shall  have  been  publicly  opened  and  read  by  the 
selectmen,  as  required  by  this  act,  and  forwarded  to  said  commissioner. 
If  the  highway  commissioner  shall  find,  from  the  bids  so  submitted,  that 
the  bid  in  behalf  of  the  town  is  the  lowest,  the  commissioner  shall  there- 
upon award  the  contract  to  such  town,  whereupon  the  selectmen  shall 
forthwith  file  with  the  highway  commissioner  a  statement  setting  forth 
the  work  to  be  done  and  the  estimated  cost  of  the  same,  and  they  shall 
fulfill  all  the  requirements  and  terms  of  the  specifications,  according  to 
the  plans  for  said  work  under  which  their  bid  was  submitted. 

SEC.  6.  Whenever  any  road  shall  be  constructed  in  any  town  having 
a  grand  list  of  over  one  million  dollars,  two-thirds  of  the  cost  of  such  con- 
struction shall  be  paid  for  out  of  the  state  treasury  to  such  town,  and 
whenever  any  road  shall  be  constructed  under  this  act  in  any  town  having 
a  grand  list  of  one  million  dollars  or  less,  three-fourths  of  the  cost  of 
such  construction  shall  be  paid  as  aforesaid  out  of  the  state  treasury, 
and  the  basis  of  award  shall  be  the  grand  list  last  made  and  completed 
as  revised  by  the  Board  of  Equalization;  but  the  whole  amount  so  paid 
by  the  state  shall  not,  in  any  one  year,  exceed  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 

SEC.  7.  Any  town  with  the  consent  of  the  highway  commissioner 
may  use  the  full  amount  of  the  appropriation  of  such  town  for  the  cur- 
rent and  next  ensuing  year,  whenever  such  town  shall  advance  to  the 
contractor  the  money  required  for  the  payment  of  that  portion  of  the  ap- 
propriation which  otherwise  would  have  been  made  in  the  second  year. 
In  such  a  case  the  state  appropriation  shall  be  divided  and  paid  by  the 
state,  as  though  said  work  had  been  done  in  the  two  years  under  separate 
appropriations. 

SEC.  8.  When  a  road  has  been  constructed  in  any  town  under  this 
act  such  town  shall  thereafter  keep  such  road  in  proper  repair,  to  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  highway  commissioner,  and  in  case  of  neglect  to  make 
such  repairs,  after  one  month's  notice  by  the  highway  commissioner, 
that  such  road  is  in  need  of  repairs,  the  commissioner  is  authorized  to 
make  such  repairs  as  may  be  required,  and  such  town  shall  pay  the  cost 
of  the  same. 

SEC.  9.  The  highway  commissioner  may  appoint  inspectors,  if  he  deem 
it  necessary,  to  supervise  the  construction  of  all  roads  built  under  this 
act,  and  shall  prescribe  the  salaries  which  such  inspectors  shall  receive; 
but  the  salaries  and  expenses  -of  said  inspectors  shall  not  exceed  six 
thousand  dollars  in  any  one  year  and  shall  be  paid  by  the  state  from  the 
annual  appropriation  provided  for  in  section  six  of  this  act.  The  in- 
spectors shall  require  all  provisions  of  the  contracts  and  specifications 
to  be  strictly  adhered  to  by  the  contractors,  and,  immediately  after  the 
completion  of  each  contract,  and  before  the  state  appropriation  is  paid, 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  39 

the  inspectors  shall  make  oath  that  all  plans  have  been  completed  ac- 
cording to  contract. 

SEC.  10.  A  certificate  of  the  cost  of  every  road  constructed  under 
this  act  shall  be  filed  with  the  highway  commissioner  by  the  selectmen 
or  by  the  authorized  authority  over  the  work  of  the  town  in  which  such 
road  shall  have  been  constructed,  and  the  highway  commissioner  shall, 
between  December  fifteenth  and  thirty-first  in  each  year,  certify  to  the 
comptroller  the  amounts  to  be  paid  to  each  town  for  such  year,  and  the 
comptroller  shall  thereupon  draw  his  orders  on  the  treasurer  in  favor 
of  the  respective  towns,  for  the  sum  certified  as  aforesaid,  and  the  treas- 
urer shall  pay  the  same  out  of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not  other- 
wise appropriated;  but  no  order  shall  be  drawn  by  the  comptroller  ex- 
cept upon  a  certificate  of  the  highway  commissioner  that  the  highway 
for  which  the  payment  is  called  for  has  been  duly  inspected  and  completed 
according  to  contract. 

SEC.  11.  If  the  improvements  upon  any  highway  shall  not  be  com- 
pleted before  the  close  of  the  season  in  which  they  are  commenced  the 
highway  commissioner  may  order  the  same  to  be  completed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  following  season,  under  the  same  provisions  and  conditions, 
as  were  existing  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  season;  and  on  certificate 
of  the  inspector  and  selectmen,  approved  by  the  commissioner,  the  comp- 
troller shall  draw  his  order  in  favor  of  such  town  for  one-half  of  the 
amount  that  has  been  paid  or  is  due  from  such  town  to  the  contractor  at 
the  time  of  the  closing  up  of  the  work,  and  when  said  improvements  are 
completed  as  ordered,  said  highway  commissioner  may  make  such  cer- 
tificates thereto  as  are  required  by  the  act  in  other  cases,  and  the  cost 
of  making  said  improvements  shall  be  charged,  reckoned,  and  paid  for  as 
though  they  were  completed  in  the  year  in  which  they  were  commenced. 

SEC.  12.  Xo  sum  exceeding  in  the  aggregate  forty-five  hundred  dollars 
shall  be  expended  in  any  one  towTn  in  any  one  year  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act. 

SEC.  13.  The  term  "public  roads"  as  used  in  this  act  shall  be  con- 
strued to  mean  and  include  only  the  main  highways  leading  from  one 
town  to  another. 

SEC.  15.     This  act  shall  take  effect  from  its  passage. 

This  bill  unanimously  passed  the  House  and  the  Senate.  Owing  to 
the  many  calls  for  state  money  the  committee  on  appropriations  felt 
compelled  to  reduce  the  appropriation  recommended  by  the  committee 
on  roads,  bridges  and  rivers.  Immediately  after  the  bill  had  received  the 
signature  of  the  Governor  it  was  printed  and  sent  to  every  town  in  the 
state. 

Accompanying  the  bill  was  the  following  circular  letter: 

"Hartford,  June  16th,  1899. 
"Board  of  Selectmen, 

Town  of 

"Gentlemen : 

"I  enclose  you  with  this  communication  the  new  law,  en- 
titled 'An  Act  to  Provide  for  the  Improvement  of  Public  Roads.' 

"In  very  many  respects  it  is  superior  to  other  laws  under  which  the 
improvement  of  roads  have  been  made.  I  would  respectfully  ask  you  to 
note  all  its  provisions,  as  they  differ  very  materially  from  the  other  laws. 


40  ,        STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

It  will  be  necessary  for  your  town  if  it  desires  to  participate  in  state  aid 
to  comply  with  all  its  provisions. 

"It  is  my  purpose,  so  far  as  possible,  to  attend  town  meetings  when 
requested  to  do  so,  and  explain  the  new  law  and  the  attitude  of  the  state 
in  reference  to  towns  desiring  assistance  to  improve  their  roads. 

"The  first  step  for  the  towns  to  take  is  to  call  a  town  meeting  and 
make  an  appropriation  sufficient  to  cover  not  only  the  amount  to  be  spent 
on  the  part  of  the  town,  but  also  the  amount  that  the  state  will  allot ;  for 
the  simple  reason  that  the  state  will  not  reimburse  the  towns  until  Decem- 
ber, and  the  contractor  will  have  to  be  paid  when  the  contract  is  finished. 
In  other  words,  if  your  grand  list  is  over  Dne  million  dollars  and  your 
town -desires  to  expend  $1,500,  the  state  will  contribute  $3,000;  it  will 
be  necessary  for  your  vote,  however,  to  be  $4,500,  as  the  state  contributes 
to  all  towns  having  a  grand  list  of  over  one  million  dollars,  two-thirds. 
But  if  on  the  other  hand  your  grand  list  be  one  million  dollars  and  under 
the  state  will  contribute  three-quarters;  in  other  words,  if  your  town 
wishes  to  appropriate  from  the  town  treasury  $1,000  the  state  will  con- 
tribute $3,000,  but  your  vote  would  have  to  read  $4,000.  These  are  only 
examples,  however,  and  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  say  if  the  maximum 
amount  of  $4,500  under  this  law  will  be  available.  This  can  only  be  de- 
termined after  the  number  of  towns  applying  for  state  aid  has  been  dis- 
closed on  the  final  day  on  which  all  applications  have  to  be  filed,  and 
so  that  all  towns  may  have  ample  opportunity  to  apply.  I  will  appoint 
the  first  day  of  August,  1899,  as  the  final  day  on  which  the  towns  may 
apply.  This  will  give  ample  time  for  the  towns  to  take  advantage  of  the 
new  law,  if  they  so  desire. 

"I  would  respectfully  call  the  attention  of  towns  who  have  not  as  yet 
taken  advantage  of  state  aid  that  this  law  has  been  drawn  to  especially 
overcome  some  of  the  objections  or  hindrances  that  were  found  to  exist 
in  the  old  laws.  In  the  first  place,  increased  liberal  allowance  to  towns 
that  are  not  financially  strong.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  a  good 
roads  law  in  force  in  any  state  that  is  more  fair  in  its  treatment  of  the 
poorer  towns  than  this  law.  No  matter  how  poor  the  town  may  be 
financially  this  law  is  drawn  to  meet  its  condition.  The  attitude  of  the 
state  will  be  to  encourage,  by  as  wide  a  latitude  as  possible,  the  parti- 
cipation of  any  town  that  desires  to  take  advantage  of  state  assistance. 

"The  message  of  the  Governor  very  plainly  called  the  attention  of  the 
Legislature  to  a  broad  and  liberal  treatment  of  the  poor  towns  of  the 
state.  The  committee  on  good  roads,  after  two  years'  investigation,  in 
their  report  recommended  to  the  Legislature  a  policy  to  pursue ;  and  the 
committee  on  roads,  bridges  and  rivers  of  the  present  Legislature  re- 
ported the  present  bill  and  the  House  and  Senate  unanimously  passed  it, 
and  it  is  the  intention  of  the  commissioner  in  carrying  out  the  letter 
of  the  law  to  broadly  interpret  its  spirit  in  the  interest  of  the  towns 
that  may  desire  to  work  under  its  provision. 

"A  wise  provision  is  embodied  in  this  law,  namely,  all  towns  who 
only  desire  a  small  appropriation,  not  exceeding  $500,  to  make  some 
improvement  on  their  roads,  the  commissioner  has  discretionary  power 
to  let  the  contract  direct  to  the  towns  without  competition  from  out- 
side parties. 

"This  feature  of  the  bill  should  be  very  popular  and  taken  advantage 
of  by  many  towns.  Oftentimes  a  great  deal  of  good  can  be  done,  as  has 


BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS  ON  TOUR  OF  INSPECTION,  MENOMINEE  COUNTY. 


SECTION  OF  FINISHED  STONE  ROAD,  MENOMINEE  COUNTY  SYSTEM. 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-l!»u±  41 

been  demonstrated  in  the  past,  by  the  intelligent  use  of  a  few  hundred 
dollars. 

"The  season  for  road  building  is  well  advanced,  and  some  of  the  towns 
in  the  state  may  feel  that  it  is  too  late  to  take  advantage  of  the  appro- 
priation this  year,  as  the  work  cannot  be  finished  before  the  season 
closes.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  wise  on  this  account  for  any  town  to 
neglect  to  take  advantage  of  the  law  upon  this  ground,  first,  because  of 
the  fact  there  is  a  loss  of  the  appropriation,  and  second,  the  law  provides 
that  'if  the  improvements  upon  any  highway  shall  be  completed  before 
the  close  of  the  season  in  which  they  are  commenced  the  highway  com- 
missioner may  order  the  same  to  be  completed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
following  season,'  and  also  provides  for  the  payment  of  the  money  allot- 
ted, as  though  they  were  completed  in  the  year  in  which  they  were  com- 
menced. While  the  law  limits  towns  to  the  maximum  amount  of  $4,500, 
the  law  does  not  limit  any  town  in  the  state  in  making  any  appropriation 
below  this  amount,  whether  it  be  one  dollar  or  one  thousand  dollars. 

"The  reason  for  placing  the  maximum  amount  at  f 4,500  was  that  the 
financially  strong  towns  could  not  exhaust  the  appropriation  to  the 
detriment  of  the  towns  not  financially  strong. 

"I  append  a  list  of  all  towns  in  the  state  with  an  apportionment 
made  in  accordance  with  the  report  of  the  board  of  equalization.  This 
report  is  the  last  one  made  by  the  board,  and  will  be  the  basis  of  ap- 
portionment by  the  state. 

"You  will  notice  this  law  encourages  towns  to  continue  the  policy  of 
the  state  begun  two  years  ago,  to  reduce  the  grades  found  on  many  of  our 
roads.  A  special  effort  being  made  in  this  direction  in  1897,  in  which 
twenty-three  towns  accepted  a  small  appropriation  to  reduce  the  grades 
existing  on  their  roads. 

"The  result  accomplished  in  this  branch  of  the  work  was  found  to  be 
very  satisfactory,  and  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  commissioner  to  call 
special  attention  to  this  important  and  very  necessary  branch  of  road  im- 
provement. Very  many  of  our  towns  cannot  afford  to  put  in  an  expensive 
system  of  road  improvement,  while  on  the  other  hand  there  is  no  good 
reason  why  any  town,  no  matter. how  low  the  funds  of  the  town  may  be, 
but  what  can  take  advantage  of  the  present  law  to  reclaim  springy 
pieces  of  roads,  clean  out  boulders  in  the  traveled  part  of  the  road,  and 
also  out  of  the  margins  and  widen  out  the  road,  thus  allowing  for  proper 
drainage  and  convenience  and  comfort  in  traveling,  also  remove  one 
of  the  greatest  evils  found  in  the  state,  unnecessary  hill  climbing. 

"In  nearly  every  town  in  the  state  the  main  roads  leading  from  one 
town  to  another  have  a  great  many  unnecessary  lifts  in  the  road  that 
can  be  removed  with  very  little  expense.  This  important  part  of  the 
work  has  been  sadly  neglected  and  no  perfect  system  of  roads  can  ever  be 
accomplished  until  our  roads  have  been  graded  properly  and  these  mole 
hills  subdued  so  as  to  provide  proper  drainage  and  easement  to  travel. 

"No  branch  of  road  construction  is  so  important  as  this  one  and  no 
part  of  the  work  so  little  thought  about  or  so  much  neglected.  We  liavo 
become  so  accustomed  to  the  up  and  down  hill  course  of  the  average  road 
that  we  have  learned  to  tolerate  this  condition  of  affairs  as  a  necessary 
evil. 

"The  new  law  was  designed  to  open  the  door  to  future  road  improve- 
ment to  all  towns  who  desire  to  use  state  money  as  wide  as  possible,  so 
6 


42  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

that  towns  may  have  the  privilege  of  using  state  money  in  grading  the 
roads  of  the  state  properly. 

"You  will  notice  that  Sec.  5  from  line  nine  to  line  fourteen,  reads 
as  follows:  'Specifications  shall  be  prepared  by  the  highway  commis- 
sioner and  shall  require  the  construction  of  a  macadamized,  or  Telford,  or 
other  stone  road,  or  other  road  satisfactory  to  the  highway  commis- 
sioner.' 

"The  attitude  of  the  state  in  interpreting  this  clause  in  the  law  will 
be  to  allow  the  widest  range  possible  in  road  improvement,  consistent 
with  good,  substantial,  economical  road  improvement,  leading  up  to 
the  ultimate  perfection  of  a  first-class  road  system  in  the  state  of  Con- 
necticut. 

"The  specifications  will  be  so  drawn  that  the  simplest  form  of  intel- 
ligent road  treatment  may  be  had,  so  as  to  continue  on  the  policy  so  well 
begun  during  the  last  three  years  of  making  good  roads  without  bank- 
rupting either  the  state  or  the  town. 

"Before  taking  a  vote  in  your  town  perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  call 
your  attention  to  one  very  important  clause  in  the  bill,  for  it  may  have 
some  bearing  upon  the  appropriations  some  of  the  towns  may  make. 

"You  will  notice  in  Section  7,  that  any  town  may  use  the  appropri- 
ation for  the  current  and  also  for  the  next  ensuing  year.  This  is  a  new 
feature  and  will  be  very  helpful  not  only  in  its  tendency  to  reduce  the 
contract  price  for  the  work  but  also  giving  the  traveling  public  and  the 
people  of  the  towns  an  earlier  use  of  the  road  than  under  the  old  law. 
It  will  also  remove,  in  a  very  marked  degree,  an  evil  that  has  existed 
of  dividing  an  already  too  small  appropriation  in  the  interest  of  'keep- 
ing peace  in  the  family/  as  is  often  done  by  the  towns. 

"I  presume  that  in  the  interest  of  harmony,  that  notwithstanding  the 
fact  of  an  increased  appropriation,  that  the  appropriation  may  still 
be  divided,  one  half  going  to  one  part  of  the  town  and  the  other  half  to  be 
used  in  some  other  place.  This  cannot  very  well  be  stopped,  but  will 
readily  adjust  itself  as  we  make  progress  in  road  improvement  through- 
out the  state. 

"This  circular  is  only  intended  to  furnish  information  relative  to 
what  is  necessary  to  be  done  by  the  towns  of  the  State  to  participate  in 
the  allotment  of  the  money  appropriated  by  the  State. 

"This  circular  letter  will  be  followed  by  others  at  the  proper  time.  I 
also  enclose  a  form  of  application  which  you  will  kindly  fill  out  and 
return  to  my  office,  together  with  the  vote  of  the  town. 

"When  the  application  is  received,  it  will  be  placed  on  file,  and  when 
the  allotment  is  made,  your  town  will  receive  due  notice  of  the  amount 
appropriated  by  the  State,  and  full  particulars  how  to  proceed  further. 

"If  this  communication  is  not  clear,  I  shall  be  very  much  pleased  to 
have  you  write  me  and  I  will  try  and  furnish  further  information  when 
desired. 

"Very  respectfully  yours, 

"JAMES  H.  MAcDONALD, 

"Highway  Commissioner" 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  43 


CONNECTICUT  SPECIFICATIONS  FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF 

PUBLIC  ROADS. 

The  following  forms  of  specifications  for  macadam,  gravel,  and  grading 
construction,  are  those  in  most  general  use  by  the  State,  in  the  conduct 
of  its  work  for  the  improvement  of  public  roads : 

MACADAM    SPECIFICATION. 

SPECIFICATION  for  the  Construction  of  a  Macadam  Road  in  the 
Town  of in County. 

DESCRIPTION. 

This  specification  embraces  the  Improvements  contemplated  on  the  road 

in  the  Town  of 

from to  

a  distance  of  about Lineal  feet,  or  so  much  thereof 

as  the  sum  of Dollars  will  pay  for,  or  the 

Selectmen  and  Highway  Commissioner  may  order  to  be  done  on  said  road 
(the  Selectmen  and  Highway  Commissioner  reserving  the  right  to  in- 
crease or  diminish  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done). 


LABOR,   MATERIAL,  ETC. 

The  Contractor  is  to  furnish  all  labor  and  materials,  together  with  all 
tools  and  implements  necessary  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  these  speci- 
fications and  in  accordance  with  the  plans  for  the  above  described  road, 
all  work  to  be  done  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Connecticut  Highway  Com- 
missioner. 

ENGINEER'S  WORK. 

The  Engineer  furnished  by  the  town  shall  establish  lines  and  grades, 
at  convenient  points  along  said  road,  before  the  Contractor  commences 
work,  for  the  guidance  of  the  Contractor.  The  Engineer  shall  verify  the 
grades  from  time  to  time  as  may  be  necessary,  and  also  replace  what- 
ever stakes  may  be  destroyed  by  the  Contractor  while  in  prosecution  of 
the  work.  The  Contractor,  however,  shall  take  all  possible  care  to  pre- 
serve the  stakes  set  by  the  Engineer. 

GRADING. 

The  Contractor  will  do  all  grading  that  may  be  necessary,  either  by 
cutting  or  filling  as  the  case  may  be.  If  there  is  a  surplus  of  material  it 
shall  be  placed  in  the  embankments,  or  on  the  sides  of  the  road,  or  at  such 
places  as  the  Selectmen  may  designate.  If  there  is  not  material  enough 
to  do  the  grading  required  to  bring  the  sub-grade  to  the  height  required, 
the  Contractor  shall  furnish  sufficient  to  do  what  is  necessary  to  conform 


44  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

to  the  established  grade  for  the  road  and  embankments,  etc.  The  Con- 
tractor shall  remove  all  loam,  roots  and  vegetable  matter  from  the  pro- 
posed traveled  part  of  the  road,  and  also  everything  of  a  spongy  nature, 
or  anything  found  in  excavating  for  said  roadway  that  will  be  liable  to 
heave,  or  settle,  and  fill  in  all  such  places  with  clean  sand  or  gravel,  free 
from  loam. 

In  all  cases  where  the  earth  fill  exceeds  one  foot  in  depth,  the  filling 
shall  be  deposited  in  courses  not  to  exceed  twelve  inches  loose  measure- 
ment. And  each  course  shall  be  carried  across  the  entire  fill  and  com- 
pleted before  commencing  another,  and  this  method  shall  be  followed 
with  each  succeeding  course  until  the  established  grade  is  reached. 

If  rock  is  found  in  any  part  of  the  cut  it  can  be  placed  in  the  fill,  pro- 
viding it  does  not  come  within  one  foot  of  the  top  of  the  finished  road; 
also  if  rock  is  used  for  filling,  no  large  stones  will  be  allowed  in  nests, 
but  must  be  distributed  over  the  area  so  as  to  avoid  pockets  for  the  top 
course  to  sift  through.  In  all  rock  cuts  the  rock  shall  be  removed  at 
least  one  foot  below  the  finished  grade  of  the  road. 

The  Contractor  will  not  be  allowed  to  dump  rock  overboard  indiscrimi- 
nately. All  rock  shall  be  placed  in  the  fill  so  far  as  the  fill  will  allow. 
Where  there  is  a  surplus  of  rock  it  shall  be  put  on  the  outside  of  the 
embankments  with  neatness,  so  as  to  leave  the  fill  with  a  view  to  future 
improvements  of  the  road.  No  unsightly  nests  of  large  stone  will  be  al- 
lowed on  margins  in  the  fills. 

The  Contractor  shall  excavate  for  all  ditches,  and  properly  shape  all 
slopes  to  conform  to  the  plans  made  for  the  proposed  work,  and  remove 
all  stumps.  He  shall  make  all  shoulders  and  shall  form  all  slopes.  All 
surplus  material  shall  be  carted  off  before  commencing  to  put  in  the  stone 
for  the  road. 

ROAD-BED. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  to  follow  closely  the  above  described  treat- 
ment in  the  grading  for  the  earth  road-bed.  After  all  cutting  or  filling 
has  been  done  to  bring  the  road-bed  to  the  established  sub-grade,  the  sur- 
face must  be  firmly  and  evenly  rolled'  so  that  it  will  sustain  the  weight 
of  stone  to  be  placed  on  it  without  settling.  All  places  that  may  shrink 
while  in  the  process  of  rolling,  must  be  filled  and  rolled  again,  until  the 
whole  sub-foundation  is  brought  up  to,  and  even  with  all  established  lines 
for  sub-grade.  The  sub-grade  must  be  identical  in  form  with,  and  have 
the  same  crown  as  the  finished  grade  of  road.  The  edges  of  road  shall 
be  cut  true  to  the  line  established  by  the  Engineer. 


COURSES  OP  STONE. 

There  shall  be  two  courses  of  broken  stones,  under  finishing  course; 
first  course  to  be  four  inches,  and  second  course  to  be  two  inches  over  all 
when  rolled,  no  allowance  to  be  made  for  settling. 


COURSES,,    HOW   APPLIED. 

The  stone  shall  be  dumped  on  the  side  of  the  road  where  it  is  possible, 
if  not,  they  can  be  dumped  on  the  side  of  the  road-bed  and  scattered  with 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  45 

shovels.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  stone  will  have  a  uniform  pres- 
sure in  rolling.  If  a  patent  spreading  wagon  is  used  by  the  Contractor, 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  dump  the  stone,  but  they  can  be  spread  by 
the  wagon.  After  stone  has  been  spread  for  the  first  course,  sufficient  to 
roll  down  to  four  inches,  a  roller  shall  be  run  over  the  stones,  a  sufficient 
number  of  times  to  make  this  course  solid  and  firm,  after  which  the  sec- 
ond course  of  two  inches  will  be  applied  in  the  same  manner  as  specified 
for  the  first  course,  and  also  receive  the  same  roller  treatment  as  the  first 
course.  If  in  the  putting  on  of  either  course  any  settling  is  found,  all 
such  places  must  be  brought  up  to  grade  level  before  any  other  course 
is  commenced.  In  the  rolling  of  these  courses  the  roller  work  must  be 
continued  until  the  broken  stone  settles  down  into  a  firm  and  solid  com- 
pact condition. 

FINISHING    COURSE. 

This  course  shall  be  one-inch  thick  when  finished.  Trap  rock  screen- 
ings including  dust  (no  screenings  larger  than  one-half  inch  stone  will 
be  allowed)  will  be  used  as  a  finishing  course.  The  screenings  (after 
the  rolling  has  been  done  on  the  last  course  of  broken  stone),  shall  be 
carted  on  the  sides  of  the  road  proper  and  dumped,  at  suitable  intervals, 
after  which  all  wheel  and  foot  marks  of  horses  shall  be  carefully  filled 
and  then  rolled  down  firmly.  Then  the  screenings  shall  be  scattered  dry 
over  the  surface  so  as  to  fill  all  interstices,  then  the  roller  shall  be  run 
over  the  surface  to  shake  in  the  dust.  Immediately  after,  a  sprinkling 
cart  shall  be  used  and  the  screenings  washed  in,  after  which  more  screen- 
ings must  be  added  and  sprinkled  and  rolled  again,  and  the  screenings, 
sprinkling  and  rolling  must  be  continued  until  all  the  coarse  stones  have 
been  covered,  and  interstices  completely  filled  and  the  road  is  firm  and 
smooth  and  will  shed  water,  and  measure  up  one-inch  of  screenings  for 
wearing  surface.  The  Contractor  will  not  be  allowed  to  put  on  the 
screenings  all  at  one  time,  but  must  put  them  on  as  described  above  and 
will  not  be  allowed  to  deviate  from  the  above  treatment  in  any  way.  The 
Contractor  must  not  wet  the  screenings  before  they  have  been  scattered 
on  the  broken  stone.  The  screenings  must  be  perfectly  dry  before  they 
are  put  on  the  road. 

DIMENSIONS   OF   BROKEN   STONE. 

The  stone  for  the  first  course  for  the  road  shall  be  from  three-fourths 
of  an  inch  to  two  inches,  mixed  in  the  screens  (not  in  the  bins),  the 
smaller  sizes  to  predominate.  The  stone  for  the  second  course  shall  be 
from  one-inch  to  one  and  one-half  inches  longest  diameter  (in  either 
courses  no  tailings  shall  be  used) .  In  the  second  course  no  stone  smaller 
than  one-inch  nor  larger  than  one  and  one-half  inches  will  be  allowed. 


KIND  OF  STONE. 

Unless  otherwise  specified,  Trap  Rock  will  be  required. 


46  STATE    OP    MICHIGAN 

SHOULDERS. 

Shoulders  must  be feet  wide  on  each  side  of  the  road, 

except  in  the  fills  of  three  feet  and  over  where  the  shoulders  shall  be  one 
foot  wider.  If  the  shouldrs  are  made  by  filling,  the  material  must  be 
first  class  and  thoroughly  rammed  and  rolled  so  as  to  prevent  washing 
or  breaking  down.  No  roots,  stumps,  or  other  material  not  suitable  to 
make  a  firm  and  durable  shoulder,  will  be  accepted.  In  no  case  must 
shoulders  be  higher  than  the  edge  of  the  finished  road. 


GUTTERS. 

Cobble  gutters  shall  be  laid  from  Station  Number, 
to  Station  Number  . 


The  cobbles  to  be  used  must  be  good,  hard,  sound  stone  (no  rotten  stone 
allowed).  Medium  sized  stone  not  over  five-inch  face  on  its  longest  di- 
ameter, except  for  centers  or  sides  where  eight-inch  cobbles  may  be  used. 
All  cobbles  shall  be  laid  with  their  longest  diameter  in  the  direction  of 
the  flow  of  water.  The  cobbles  must  be  bedded  in  not  less  than  six  inches 
of  good,  sharp  sand  or  gravel,  and  thoroughly  rammed  into  shape  and 
place.  Sand  must  be  swept  off  before  ramming.  All  stone  broken  in 
ramming  must  be  removed  and  replaced  with  perfect  stone. 

All  earth  gutters  shall  be  carefully  made  not  less  than  one  foot  wide  at 
the  bottom  and  be  true  to  grade,  and  have  a  true  flow  line  made  and 
carefully  pared  so  as  to  leave  no  pockets  or  loose  earth  on  the  bottom. 
If  the  natural  gutter  is  low  it  shall  be  brought  up  to  grade  with  good, 
clean  gravel. 

SLOPES. 

The  grade  of  slopes  in  the  cut  or  fill  shall  be  one  and  one-half  hori- 
zontal to  one  foot  vertical,  except  in  fills  of  three  feet  or  over  where  the 
slope  shall  be  two  to  one,  and  where  rock  is  found  in  the  cut  the  slope 
shall  be  one  to  six. 

ROLLER  TO  BE  USED. 

A  steam  roller,  weighing  not  less  than  ten  tons,  must  be  used  on  all 
work  or  such  other  roller  as  may  be  approved  by  the  Connecticut  High- 
way Commissioner. 

CULVERTS. 


DRAINAGE. 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,    1901-1902.  47 


GRADES. 

Cross  slope  grades  shall  be  five-eighths  of  one  inch  to  one  foot  on  light 
grades  and  on  quick  descents  three-quarter  of  one  inch  to  one  foot.  The 
grade  of  shoulders  will  conform  to  whatever  grade  is  specified  for  the 
cross  slope  grade. 

SURPLUS    MATERIAL. 

The  Contractor  shall  remove  all  surplus  material,  stumps,  roots  and 
stones  from  the  side  of  the  road  and  leave  the  road  in  a  neat  condition. 


OBLIGATION   OF   THE   CONTRACTOR. 

The  Contractor  will  be  responsible  to  the  Selectmen  of  the  Town  of 

or  the  Inspector  for  the  faithful 

performance  of  all  the  provisions  of  these  specifications,  and  to  a  strict 
conformity  with  the  Plans  made  and  submitted  for  the  work,  also  to  the 
Connecticut  Highway  Commissioner. 


CROSS  SECTION. 

The  Contractor  will  find  a  correct  drawing  of  a  Cross  Section  of  the 
proposed  road  in  this  specification,  and  the  measurement  and  details  of 
this  drawing  must  be  strictly  followed  to  the  letter. 


DISPUTES. 

In  case  of  any  dispute  arising  as  to  the  meaning  or  intention  of  the 
Specifications  or  Plans,  the  decision  of  the  Connecticut  Highway  Com- 
missioner shall  be  final. 

WORK   DELAYED. 

In  case  the  work  is  unnecessarily  delayed,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Selectmen  it  will  not  be  finished  in  the  prescribed  time,  the  Selectmen 
are,  with  the  approval  of  the  Highway  Commissioner,  hereby  given  the 
right  to  stop  the  work  and  put  other  men  on  the  work,  and  pay  for  the 
same  out  of  any  money  that  may  be  in  their  hands. 


FENCES  AND  SAFEGUARDS. 

If  the  Contractor  has  the  right  given  him  to  close  the  road,  he  shall 
erect  fences  at  either  or  both  ends  of  the  road,  and  placard  the  same, 
warning  all  people  of  the  work  that  is  being  done.  He  shall  take  such 
other  means  as  are  necessary  to  protect  the  traveling  public  from  all 
danger  to  themselves  or  their  property. 


48  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

DISORDERLY   PERSONS. 

If  the  Selectmen  find  any  of  the  men  employed  on  the  work  unruly  or 
disorderly  the  Contractor  shall  discharge  them  immediately  on  notifica- 
tion by  the  Selectmen. 

DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY. 

The  Contractor  shall  not  break  through  or  go  upon  any  property, 
either  his  men  or  his  teams  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  and  any 
damage  he  may  do  he  shall  be  held  responsible  for. 


DIAGRAM  OF  CROSS  SECTION. 
LIGHTING  WORK. 

The  Contractor  shall  furnish  a  sufficient  number  of  red  lanterns, 
which  are  to  be  set  up  along  the  road  at  suitable  intervals  so  as  to  warn 
the  public  against  all  danger.  These  lanterns  shall  be  kept  lighted  all 
night  and  a  man  placed  in  charge  of  them. 


LIABILITY   OP   CONTRACTOR. 

The  Contractor  shall  assume  and  be  responsible  for  all  accidents  that 
may  occur,  also  be  liable  for  all  damage  to  life  or  property  by  reason  of 
carelessness,  incompetent  help  or  neglect  in  the  prosecution  of  this 
work  from  the  commencement  of  the  contract  until  its  final  completion 
and  acceptance  by  the  Connecticut  Highway  Commissioner. 

If  the  work  is  placed  in  charge  of  an  Inspector  by  the  Highway  Com- 
missioner, the  Inspector  will  be  obeyed  by  the  Contractor  without  ques- 
tion or  delay,  and  his  orders  shall  be  followed  out  as  given  so  long  as 
they  are  in  accord  with  the  plans  and  specifications. 


EXTRA   SCREENINGS. 

In  addition  to  the  material  required  in  other  parts  of  this  specifica- 
tion, the  Contractor  shall  furnish  and  deliver  in  the  Town  of 

at  the  place  designated  by  the  Selectmen, 

carloads  of  screenings,  weighing  not  less  than  twenty  net 

tons  each.     These  screenings  are  to  be  delivered  to  the  town  before  the 
final  payment  is  made  without  any  expense  to  the  town. 


EARLE  S  GOOD  ROADS  TRAIN,  LOADING  IN  STREET    AT  GREENVILLE. 


GOOD  ROADS  TRAIN.  TRANSPORTING   l.0<>0  I'Kol'LK  TO  SAMPLE  ROAD 
ATrGREENVILLE. 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  49 


GRAVEL  SPECIFICATIONS. 

SPECIFICATIONS  for  the  Construction  of  a  Gravel  Road  in  the  Town 
of in County. 

DESCRIPTION. 

This  Specification   embraces  the  Improvements  contemplated  on  the 

road  in  the  Town  of 

from to 

a  distance  of  about Lineal  feet,  or  so  much  thereof  as  the 

sum  of Dollars  will  pay  for,  or  the  Selectmen  and 

Highway  Commissioners  may  order  to  be  done  on  said  road  (the  Select- 
men and  Highway  Commissioner  reserving  the  right  to  increase  or 
diminish  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done). 

LABOR,   MATERIAL,,   ETC. 

The  Contractor  is  to  furnish  all  labor  and  materials,  together  with  all 
tools  and  implements  necessary  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  these  specifi- 
cations and  in  accordrnce  with  the  plans  for  the  above  described  road,  all 
work  to  be  done  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Connecticut  Highway  Commis- 
sioner. 

ENGINEER^    WORK. 

The  Engineer  furnished  by  the  town  shall  establish  lines  and  grades, 
at  convenient  points  along  said  road,  before  the  Contractor  commences 
work,  for  the  guidance  of  the  Contractor.  The  Engineer  shall  verify 
the  grades  from  time  to  time  as  may  be  necessary,  and  also  replace 
whatever  stakes  may  be  destroyed  by  the  Contractor  while  in  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work.  The  Contractor,  however,  shall  take  all  possible  care 
to  preserve  the  stakes  set  by  the  Engineer. 


GRADING. 

The  Contractor  will  do  all  grading  that  may  be  necessary,  either  by 
cutting  or  filling  as  the  case  may  be.  If  there  is  a  surplus  of  material 
it  shall  be  placed  in  the  embankments,  or  on  the  sides  of  the  road,  or  at 
such  places  as  the  Selectmen  may  designate.  If  there  is  not  material 
enough  to  do  the  grading  required  to  bring  the  sub-grade  to  the  height 
required,  the  Contractor  shall  furnish  sufficient  to  do  what  is  necessary 
to  conform  to  the  established  grade  for  the  road  and  embankments,  etc. 
The  Contractor  will  removo  all  loam,  roots  and  vegetable  matter  from 
the  proposed  traveled  part  of  the  road,  and  also  everything  of  a  spongy 
nature,  or  anything  found  in  excavating  for  said  roadway  that  will  In- 
liable  to  heave,  or  settle,  and  fill  in  all  such  places  with  clean  sand  or 
gravel,  free  from  loam. 

In  all  cases  where  the  earth  fill  exceeds  one  foot  in  depth,  the  filling 
shall  be  deposited  in  courses  not  to  oxceed  twolve  inches  loose  measnro- 
7 


50  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

ment.  Each  course  shall  be  carried  across  the  entire  fill  and  completed 
before  commencing  another,  and  this  method  shall  be  followed  with 
each  succeeding  course  until  the  established  grade  is  reached. 

If  rock  is  found  in  any  part  of  the  cut  it  can  be  placed  in  the  fill,  pro 
viding  it  does  not  come  within  one  foot  of  the  top  of  the  finished  road; 
also  if  rock  is  used  for  filling,  no  large  stones  will  be  allowed  in  nests, 
but  must  be  distributed  over  the  area  so  as  to  avoid  pockets  for  the  top 
course  to  sift  through.  In  all  rock  cuts  the  rock  shall  be  removed  at 
lease  one  foot  below  the  finished  grade  of  the  road. 

The  Contractor  will  not  be  allowed  to  dump  rock  overboard  indis- 
criminately. All  rock  shall  be  placed  in  the  fill  so  far  as  the  fill  will 
allow.  Where  there  is  a  surplus  of  rock  it  shall  be  put  on  the  outside 
of  the  embankments  with  neatness,  so  as  to  leave  the  fill  with  a  view  to 
future  improvements  of  the  road.  No  unsightly  nests  of  large  stone 
will  be  allowed  on  margins  in  the  fills. 

The  Contractor  shall  excavate  for  all  ditches,  and  properly  shape  all 
slopes  to  conform  to  the  plans  made  for  the  proposed  work,  and  remove 
all  stumps.  He  shall  make  all  shoulders  and  shall  form  all  slopes.  All 
surplus  material  shall  be  carted  off  before  commencing  to  put  in  the 
gravel  for  the  road. 

ROAD-BED. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  to  follow  closely  the  above  described  treat- 
ment in  the  grading  for  the  earth  road-bed.  After  all  cutting  or  filling 
has  been  done  to  bring  the  road-bed  to  the  established  sub-grade,  the 
surface  must  be  firmly  and  evenly  rolled  so  that  it  will  sustain  the 
weight  of  gravel  to  be  placed  on  it  without  settling.  All  places  that 
may  shrink  while  in  the  process  of  rolling,  must  be  filled  and  rolled 
again,  until  the  whole  sub-foundation  is  brought  up  to,  and  even  with 
all  established  lines  for  sub-grade.  The  sub-grade  must  be  identical  in 
form  with,  and  have  the  same  crown  as  the  finished  grade  of  road.  The 
edges  of  road  shall  be  cut  true  to  the  line  established  by  the  Engineer. 


COURSES. 

There  shall  be  three  courses,  consisting  of  two  courses  of  three  inches 
and  one  of  two  inches  after  rolling. 


FIRST    AND    SECOND    COURSES. 

The  first  course  shall  consist  of  good,  clean  gravel,  not  less  than 
eighty  per  cent,  of  gravel,  the  balance,  material  that  will  bind,  no  loam 
will  be  allowed. 

The  gravel  shall  range  from  pea  stone  to  three  inches  at  its  longest 
diameter.  Care  must  be  taken  to  have  the  gravel  as  near  uniform  in 
quality  as  possible,  avoiding  sand,  the  small  sizes  to  predominate.  The 
gravel  shall  be  spread  on  uniformly  and  rolled  down  after  which  a 
sprinkler  shall  be  used  and  this  course  wet  down  and  then  rolled  again 
and  continue  rolling  until  it  is  firm  and  thoroughly  compacted.  This 
course  shall  be  three  inches  when  complete  after  rolling,  after  which 
the  second  course  shall  be  put  on  and  the  same  method  shall  be  pursued 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,    1901-1902.  51 

in  its  treatment  as  described  for  the  first  course  in  every  particular,  ex- 
cept the  size  of  the  gravel  shall  not  be  larger  than  will  go  through  a  two- 
inch  screen,  and  shall  receive  exactly  the  same  treatment  as  described 
for  the  first  course,  this  course  shall  be  three  inches  in  depth  when 
rolled. 

FINISHING   COURSE. 

After  the  Contractor  has  taken  out  all  foot  and  wheel  marks  on  the 
second  course  and  has  finished  rolling,  he  shall  then  put  on  the  last  or 
finishing  course  which  shall  consist  of  sixty  per  cent,  of  stone  and  forty 
per  cent,  of  binding  material.  No  stone  shall  exceed  one  inch  largest 
diameter.  This  course  must  be  either  spread  from  the  wagon  with 
shovels  or  dumped  on  the  shoulders  and  spread  with  shovels.  The  Con- 
tractor must  not  dump  the  loads  of  gravel  on  the  road  proper.  This 
course  after  spreading  uniformly,  shall  be  wet  down  and  rolled,  and  the 
wetting  and  rolling  shall  be  continued  until  the  road  is  solid  and  firm 
and  will  not  show  the  mark  of  hoof  or  wheel  while  driving  over  it. 


SLOPES. 

The  grade  of  slopes  in  the  cut  or  fill  shall  be  one  and  one-half  horizon- 
tal to  one  foot  vertical,  except  in  fills  of%  three  feet  or  over  where  the 
slope  shall  be  two  to  one,  and  where  rock  is  found  in  the  cut  the  slope 
shall  be  one  to  six. 

ROLLER  TO   BE   USED. 

A  steam  roller,  weighing  not  less  than  ten  tons  must  be  used  on  all 
work  or  such  other  roller  as  may  be  approved  by  the  Connecticut  High- 
way Commissioner. 

CULVERTS. 


DRAINAGE 


GRADES. 

Cross  slope  grades  shall  be  three-quarters  of  one  inch  to  one  foot  on 
light  grades  and  on  quick  descents  one  inch  to  one  foot.  The  grade  of 
shoulders  shall  conform  to  whatever  grade  is  specified  for  the  cross 
slope  grade. 

SURPLUS   MATERIAL. 

The  Contractor  shall  remove  all  surplus  material,  stumps,  roots  and 
stones  from  the  side  of  the  road  and  leave  the  road  in  a  neat  condition. 


52  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

OBLIGATION  OP  THE   CONTRACTOR. 

The  Contractor  will  be  responsible  to  the  Selectmen  of  the  Town  of 

or  the  Inspector   for  the  faithful 

performance  of  all  the  provisions  of  these  specifications  and  to  a  strict 
conformity  with  the  plans  made  and  approved  for  the  work,  also  to  the 
Connecticut  Highway  Commissioner. 


CROSS   SECTION. 

The  Contractor  will  find  a  correct  drawing  of  a  Cross  Section  of  the 
proposed  road  in  this  specification,  and  the  measurements  and  details 
of  this  drawing  must  be  strictly  followed  to  the  letter. 


GUTTERS. 
Cobble  gutters  shall  be  laid  from  Station  Number, 

to  Station  Number 


The  cobbles  to  be  used  must  be  good,  hard  sound  stone  (no  rotten  stone 
allowed).  Medium  sized  stone  not  over  five-inch  face  on  its  longest 
diameter  must  be  used  except  for  centers  or  sides  where  eight-inch  cobbles 
may  be  allowed.  All  cobbles  shall  be  laid  with  their  longest  diameter  in 
the  direction  of  the  flow  of  water.  The  cobbles  must  be  bedded  in  not 
less  than  six  inches  of  good,  sharp  sand  or  gravel,  and  thoroughly  rammed 
into  shape  and  place.  Sand  must  be  swept  off  before  ramming.  All 
stone  broken  in  ramming  must  be  removed  and  replaced  with  perfect 
stone. 

All  earth  gutters  shall  be  carefully  made  not  less  than  one  foot  wide  at 
the  bottom,  and  be  true  to  grade,  and  have  a  true  flow  line  made  and 
carefully  pared  so  as  to  leave  no  pockets  or  loose  earth  on  the  bottom.  If 
the  natural  gutter  is  low  it  shall  be  brought  up  to  grade  with  good,  clean 
gravel. 

SHOULDERS. 

Shoulders  must  be feet  wide  on  each  side  of  the  road, 

except  in  fills  of  three  feet  and  over  where  the  shoulders  shall  be  one  foot 
wider.  If  the  shoulders  are  made  by  filling,  the  material  must  be  first- 
class  and  thoroughly  rammed  and  rolled  so  as  to  prevent  washing  or 
breaking  down.  No  roots,  stumps,  or  other  material  not  suitable  to  make 
a  firm  and  durable  shoulder  will  be  accepted.  In  no  case  must  shoulders 
be  higher  than  the  edge  of  the  finished  road. 


LIGHTING  WORK. 

The  Contractor  shall  furnish  a  sufficient  number  of  red  lanterns,  which 
are  to  be  set  up  along  the  road  at  suitable  intervals  so  as  to  warn  the 
public  against  all  danger.  These  lanterns  shall  be  kept  lighted  all  night, 
and  a  man  placed  in  charge  of  them. 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  53 


DISPUTES. 


In  case  of  any  dispute  arising  as  to  the  meaning  or  intention  of  the 
Specifications  or  Plans,  the  decision  of  the  Connecticut  Highway  Com- 
missioner shall  be  final. 


WORK   DELAYED. 


In  case  the  work  is  unnecessarily  delayed,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Selectmen  it  will  not  be  finished  in  the  prescribed  time,  the  Selectmen  are, 
with  approval  of  the  Highway  Commissioner,  hereby  given  the  right  to 
stop  the  work  and  put  other  men  on  the  work,  and  pay  for  the  same  out  of 
any  money  that  may  be  in  their  hands. 


FENCES  AND   SAFEGUARDS. 


If  the  Contractor  has  the  right  given  him  to  close  the  road,  he  shall 
erect  fences  at  either  or  both  ends  of  the  road,  and  placard  the  same, 
warning  all  people  of  the  work  that  is  being  done.  He  shall  take  such 
other  means  as  are  necessary  to  protect  the  traveling  public  from  all 
danger  to  themselves  or  their  property. 


DISORDERLY   PERSONS. 


If  the  Selectmen  find  any  of  the  men  employed  on  the  work  unruly  or 
disorderly  the  Contractor  shall  discharge  them  immediately  on  notifica- 
tion by  the  Selectmen. 


DAMAGE  TO  PROPERTY. 


The  Contractor  shall  not  break  through  or  go  upon  any  property,  either 
his  men  or  his  teams  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  and  any  damage 
he  may  do  he  shall  be  held  responsible  for. 


LIABILITY   OF   CONTRACTORS. 

The  Contractor  shall  assume  and  be  responsible  for  all  accidents  that 
may  occur,  also  be  liable  for  all  damage  to  life  or  property  by  reason  of 
carelessness,  incompetent  help  or  neglect  in  the  prosecution  of  this  work 
from  the  commencement  of  the  contract  until  its  final  completion  and 
acceptance  by  the  Connecticut  Highway  Commissioner. 

If  the  work  is  placed  in  charge  of  an  Inspector  by  the  Highway  Commis- 
sioner, the  Inspector  will  be  obeyed  by  the  Contractor  without  question  or 
delay,  and  his  orders  shall  be  followed  out  as  given  so  long  as  they  are 
in  accord  with  the  plans  and  specifications. 


54  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 


GRADING  SPECIFICATION. 

SPECIFICATION  for  the  Grading  and  Construction  of  a  Road  in  the 
Town  of  in County. 


DESCRIPTION. 

This  Specification  embraces  the  Improvement  contemplated  on  the  road 

in  the  Town  of   

from to 

a  distance  of  about Lineal  feet,  or  so  much  thereof  as  the 

sum  of Dollars  will  pay  for,  or  .the  Selectmen  and 

Highway  Commissioner  may  order  to  be  done  on  said  road  (the  Select- 
men and  Highway  Commissioner  reserving  the  right  to  increase  or 
diminish  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done). 


LABOR,   MATERIAL,  ETC. 

The  Contractor  is  to  furnish  all  labor  and  materials,  together  with  all 
tools  and  implements  necessary  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  these 
specifications  and  in  accordance  with  the  plans  for  the  above  described 
road,  all  work  to  be  done  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Connecticut  High- 
way Commissioner. 

ENGINEER'S  WORK. 

The  Engineer  furnished  by  the  town  shall  establish  lines  and  grades,  at 
convenient  points  along  said  road,  before  the  Contractor  commences  work, 
for  the  guidance  of  the  Contractor.  The  Engineer  shall  verify  the  grades 
from  time  to  time  as  may  be  necessary,  and  also  replace  whatever  stakes 
may  be  destroyed  by  the  Contractor  while  in  prosecution  of  the  work. 
The  Contractor,  however,  shall  take  all  possible  care  to  preserve  the 
stakes  set  by  the  Engineer. 

GRADING. 

The  Contractor  will  do  all  grading  that  may  be  necessary,  either  by 
cutting  or  filling  as  the  case  may  be,  to  bring  the  road  to  conform  to  the 
plans  and  in  accordance  with  these  specifications. 

If  in  excavating,  any  material  suitable  for  making  top  dressing  is  found, 
it  shall  be  put  one  side  and  used  for  surface  hardening  by  the  Contractor, 
to  a  depth  of  six  inches. 

In  all  cases  where  the  earth  fill  exceeds  one  foot  in  depth,  the  filling 
shall  be  deposited  in  courses  not  to  exceed  twelve  inches  loose  measure- 
ment. And  each  course  shall  be  carried  across  the  entire  fill  and  com- 
pleted before  commencing  another,  and  this  method  shall  be  followed 
with  each  succeeding  course  until  the  established  grade  is  reached.  If 
rock  is  found  in  any  part  of  the  cut  it  can  be  placed  in  the  fill,  providing 
it  does  not  come  within  one  foot  of  the  top  of  the  finished  road;  also  if 
rock  is  used  for  filling,  no  large  stones  will  be  allowed  in  nests,  but  must 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,    1901-1902.  55 

be  distributed  over  the  area  so  as  to  avoid  pockets  for  the  top  course  to 
sift  through. 

The  Contractor  will  not  be  allowed  to  dump  rock  over  board  indis- 
criminately. All  rock  shall  be  placed  in  the  fill  so  far  as  the  fill  will 
allow.  Where  there  is  a  surplus  of  rock  it  shall  be  put  on  the  outside 
of  the  embankments  with  neatness,  so  as  to  leave  the  fill  with  a  view  to 
future  improvements  of  road.  No  unsightly  nests  of  large  stone  will  be 
allowed  on  margins  in  the  fills. 

SLOPES. 

The  grade  of  slopes  in  the  cut  or  fill  shall  be  one  and  one-half  horizontal 
to  one  foot  vertical,  except  in  fills  of  three  feet  or  over  where  the  slope 
shall  be  two  to  one  and  where  rock  is  found  in  the  cut  the  slope  shall  be 
one  to  six. 

• 

ROLLER  TO   BE   USED. 

A  steam  roller,  weighing  not  less  than  ten  tons  must  be  used  on  all 
work  or  such  other  as  may  be  approved  by  the  Connecticut  Highway 
Commissioner. 

CULVERTS. 


DRAINAGE. 


GRADES. 

Cross  slope  grades  shall  be  three-quarters  of  one  inch  to  one  foot  on 
light  grades,  and  on  quick  descents  one  inch  to  one  foot.  The  grade  of 
shoulders  will  conform  to  whatever  grade  is  specified  for  the  cross  slope 
grade. 

SURPLUS   MATERIAL. 

The  Contractor  shall  remove  all  surplus  material,  stumps,  roots  and 
stones  from  the  side  of  the  road  and  leave  the  road  in  a  neat  condition. 


OBLIGATION  OF  THE   CONTRACTOR. 

The  Contractor  will  be  responsible  to  the  Selectmen  of  the  Town  of 

and  the  Connecticut  Highway  Commissioner 

for  the  faithful  performance  of  all  the  provisions  of  these  specifications 
and  to  a  strict  conformity  with  the  plans  made  and  approved  for  the 
work. 


56  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

CROSS   SECTION. 

The  Contractor  will  find  a  correct  drawing  of  a  Cross  Section  of  the  pro- 
posed road  in  this  specification,  and  the  measurements  and  details  of  this 
drawing  must  be  strictly  followed  to  the  letter. 


GUTTERS. 

All  earth  gutters  shall  be  carefully  made  not  less  than  one  foot  wide  at 
the  bottom,  and  be.  true  to  grade,  and  have  a  true  flow  line  made  and 
carefully  pared  so  as  to  leave  no  pockets  or  loose  earth  on  the  bottom.  If 
the  natural  gutter  is  low  it  shall  be  brought  up  to  grade  with  good,  clean 
gravel. 

SHOULDERS. 

Shoulders  must  be feet  wide  on  each  side  of  the  road, 

except  in  fills  of  three  feet  and  over  where  the  shoulders  shall  be  one  foot 
wide.  If  the  shoulders  are  made  by  filling,  the  material  must  be  first- 
class  and  thoroughly  rammed  and  rolled  so  as  to  prevent  washing  or 
breaking  down.  No  roots,  stumps,  or  other  material  not  suitable  to  make 
a  firm  and  durable  shoulder  will  be  accepted.  In  no  case  must  shoulders 
be  higher  than  the  edge  of  the  finished  road. 


LIGHTING  WORK. 

The  Contractor  shall  furnish  a  sufficient  number  of  red  lanterns,  which 
are  to  be  set  up  along  the  road  at  suitable  intervals  so  as  to  warn  the 
public  against  all  danger.  These  lanterns  shall  be  kept  lighted  all  night, 
and  a  man  placed  in  charge  of  them. 


DISPUTES. 

In  case  of  any  dispute  arising  as  to  the  meaning  or  intention  of  the 
Specifications  or  Plans,  the  decision  of  the  Connecticut  Highway  Com- 
missioner shall  be  final. 

WORK   DELAYED. 

In  case  the  work  is  unnecessarily  delayed,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Selectmen  it  will  not  be  finished  in  the  prescribed  time,  the  Selectmen  are, 
with  approval  of  the  Highway  Commissioner,  hereby  given  the  right  to 
stop  the  work  and  put  other  men  on  the  work,  and  pay  for  the  same  out  of 
any  money  that  may  be  in  their  hands. 


FENCES  AND   SAFEGUARDS. 

If  the  Contractor  has  the  right  given  him  to  close  the  road,  he  shall 
erect  fences  at  either  or  both  ends  of  the  road,  and  placard  the  same, 
warning  all  people  of  the  work  that  is  being  done.  He  shall  take  such 
other  means  as  are  necessary  to  protect  the  traveling  public  from  all 
danger  to  themselves  or  their  property. 


LOADING  SPREADING  WAGONS,  AT  GREENVILLE  EXPOSITION. 


THE  ECONOMY  ROAD  MACHINERY  PLANT,  USED  BY  STATE  HIGHWAY  COMMISSION. 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902. 


57 


DISORDERLY   PERSONS. 


If  the  Selectmen  find  any  of  the  men  employed  on  the  work  unruly  or 
disorderly  the  Contractor  shall  discharge  them  immediately  on  notifica- 
tion by  the  Selectmen. 


DAMAGE  TO   PROPERTY. 


The  Contractor  shall  not  break  through  or  go  upon  any  property,  either 
his  men  or  his  teams  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  and  any  damage 
he  may  do  he  shall  be  held  responsible  for. 


LIABILITY   OF   CONTRACTORS. 

The  Contractor  shall  assume  and  be  responsible  for  all  accidents  that 
may  occur,  also  be  liable  for  all  damage  to  life  or  property  by  reason  of 
carelessness,  incompetent  help  or  neglect  in  the  prosecution  of  this  work 
from  the  commencement  of  the  contract  until  its  final  completion  and 
acceptance  by  the  Connecticut  Highway  Commissioner. 

If  the  work  is  placed  in  charge  of  an  Inspector  by  the  Highway  Commis- 
sioner, the  Inspector  will  be  obeyed  by  the  Contractor  without  question  or 
delay,  and  his  orders  shall  be  followed  out  as  given  so  long  as  they  are 
in  accord  with  the  plans  and  specifications. 


SUMMARY    OF    WHAT    SOME    STATES    HAVE    DONE    THIS    YEAR    FOR    PERMANENT 

GRAVEL  AND   STONE  ROADS. 


State. 


1902. 


County 
or  Town. 


Vermont    

Connecticut  

New  Jersey  

Massachusetts  

New  York   

California   1,967,426 

8 


Total. 


189,000 

$89,000 

175,000 

175,000 

250,000 

200,000 

400,000 

600,000 

500,000 

500,000 

800,000 

800,000 

1,600,000 

,967,426 

1,967,426 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

OF 

MICHIGAN  HIGHWAY  COMMITTEE 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902  61 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 

WHEREAS,  We  are,  after  due  investigation,  convinced  that  a  large  part 
of  the  tax  both  of  labor  and  money,  for  building  and  mending  highways 
is  misspent,  not  wilfully,  but  on  account  of  the  fact  that  highway  com- 
missioners and  overseers  lack  information,  regarding  modern  scientific 
methods  of  building  and  improving  highways,  and 

WHEREAS,  We  have  found  that  there  is  a  great  desire  on  the  part  of 
these  officials  to  obtain  the  necessary  information,  that  they  may  be- 
come efficient  in  methods  of  highway  improvement,  all  talk  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  1903  should  establish  a  highway 
commission  to  be  composed  of  three  men,  all  practical  road  builders, 
one  to  be  appointed  from  the  Upper  Peninsula,  and  two  from  the  Lower 
Peninsula.  They  to  receive  $5.00  per  day  and  expenses  while  actually 
engaged  in  the  work  of  the  commission.  They  to  employ  a  secretary. 
not  of  their  number  and  who  shall  not  be  a  member  of  the  board,  also 
a  civil  engineer  and  such  other  help  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  the  commission. 

The  civil  engineer  to  be  subject  to  the  call  of  any  locality  to  give  ex- 
pert advice  where  $500  or  more  is  to  be  expended  in  permanent  improve- 
ment of  the  public  highways  or  bridges. 

The  secretary  to  attend  to  all  correspondence  as  directed  by  the  board 
and  to  keep  a  history  of  all  proceedings,  collect  all  information  possible 
about  road  building  material,  where  located,  the  quality,  cost  of  rail- 
road or  other  transportation  of  this  material  to  other  parts  of  the  State. 
Collect  names  of  civil  engineers  and  expert  road  builders  to  the  end, 
that  localities  needing  such  services,  may  be  informed,  in  fact,  practi- 
cally running  a  good  roads  information  bureau,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  State. 

The  commissioners  should  be  compelled  by  law  to  hold  at  least  one 
public  meeting  in  each  county  of  the  State  each  year,  at  Which  meeting, 
roads  and  how  to  build  and  mend  them  should  be  the  only  subject. 
Road  builders  and  menders  institutes  they  should  be,  in  name  and  in 
fact. 

WHEREAS,  All  of  the  eastern  states  have  passed  state  aid  laws,  no 
two  states  alike,  yet  all  are  working  admirably,  and  all  classes  of  tax 
payers  are  outspoken  in  praise  of  the  plan,  and 

WHEREAS,  All  citizens  have  an  equal  right  to  use  the  highways  of  the 
State,  and  inter-town,  or  commonly  called,  through  roads  are  used 
largely  by  a  journeying  or  by  sojourning  people,  and 

WHEREAS.  This  committee  finds  that  there  is  a  large  sentiment  for 
State  aid,  whether  in  majority  or  not  the  committee  is  unable  to  decide, 
and 

WHEREAS,  No  State  aid  can  be  granted  for  the  improvement  of  high- 
ways in  Michigan,  until  Section  9  of  Chapter  14  of  the  Constitution  is 
changed,  and 


62  STATE    OF     MICHIGAN 

WHEREAS,,  Societies,  farm  clubs,  business  men's  acsociations,  boards 
of  supervisors,  township  boards,  and  thousands  of  individuals  have 
asked  for  a  privilege  to  vote  on  this  question,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  pass  the  necessary 
concurrent  resolution  that  will  permit  the  electors  at  their  next  regular 
election  to  vote  whether  they  wish  to  change  the  Constitution  so  that 
all  shall  share  in  building  permanent  through  roads,  or  whether  they 
wish  it  to  remain  as  it  now  is,  so  that  only  5-13  of  the  assessed  valua- 
tion, namely,  the  farm  property,  only  of  the  State  pays  any  tax  for 
road  building  or  mending,  while  owners  of  all  property  are  benefitted 
by  the  using. 

Resolved,  That  if  at  the  spring  election  the  people  do  vote  to  change 
the  Constitution,  that  the  Legislature  should  investigate  the  State  Aid 
laws  of  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Connecticut,  Maine  and  Vermont, 
particularly  the  latter,  and  if  deemed  wise  pass  the  necessary  laws 
to  enable  Michigan  to  take  a  stand  among  other  up-to-date  states  on  this 
question,  so  that  within  a  few  years  it  shall  not  be  true  if  said,  "can  tell 
by  the  bad  roads  when  we  get  to  Michigan." 

WHEREAS,  At  the  present  time  any  township  that  desires  to  build  per- 
manent highways  and  to  raise  money  by  bonding  the  township,  must  ask 
the  legislature  for  the  privilege,  which  is  against  home  rule,  so  much 
called  for,  and 

WHEREAS,  The  township  must  first  vote  to  ask  the  Legislature  which 
shows  the  will  of  the  electors  of  such  township,  and  such  requests  are 
always  granted  by  the  legislature;  then  the  township  is  subjected  to  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  taking  another  vote  of  the  electors  whether 
they  will  bond  or  not,  which  is  useless,  for  the  first  vote  indicates  the 
prevailing  will  of  the  electors.  This  not  only  subjects  the  township  to 
twice  or  three  times  as  much  expense  as  is  necessary,  but  it  subjects  the 
whole  State  to  expense,  for  this  local  matter  must  occupy  the  time  of 
all  the  legislators,  the  bill  be  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  State  and 
then  engrossed  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  and  then  printed  a  third  time 
in  the  local  acts,  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  and  probably  a  lobby  to 
the  legislature,  to  make  sure  of  its  passage,  at  the  expense  of  the  town- 
ship, therefore 

Resolved.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  pass  an  act  giving 
to  any  township  in  the  State,  the  right  to  bond  for  the  purpose  of  build- 
ing permanent  Jiighways  to  any  amount  not  to  exceed  three  per  cent  of 
its  valuation,  according  to  the  last  equalization  of  the  supervisors. 

Home  rule  to  townships  with  a  reasonable  limit,  yet  this  committee 
or  any  member  thereof,  is  not  advocating  bonds,  all  reports  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding. 


NEEDS    AND    RECOMMENDATIONS    CONDENSED. 

The  Michigan  Highway  Committee  at  their  last  meeting,  held  at  Lan- 
sing, December  9,  1902,  adopted  resolutions,  unanimously  favoring  the 
following : 

Education  on  how  to  build  and  maintain  roads  is  needed. 

That  this  can  be  best  done  by  a  State  Highway  Commission. 

Then  one  ought  to  be  created  and  supported  by  the  state. 

That  the  next  Legislature  should  establish  it. 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  63 

That  this  commission  should  be  compelled  by  law  to  hold  one  Road 
Builder's  and  Mender's  Institute  in  each  county  every  year,  to  teach  road 
commissioners  and  overseers  how  to  build  and  repair. 

That  they  should  be  subject  to  call  from  any  township  in  the  State, 
to  give  expert  advice  on  how  to  build  roads  and  bridges,  and  without 
charge. 

That  they  should  run,  practically,  a  good  roads  information  bureau, 
furnishing  information  about  material,  transportation,  and  everything 
necessary  for  townships  to  know,  and  free. 

That  townships  have  as  good  a  claim  to  home  rule  as  cities. 

Then  townships  should  have  a  right  to  build  good  roads  and  raise 
money  to  pay  for  them,  when  their  electors  vote  to  do  so,  up  to  a  reason- 
able limit,  without  having  to  ask  the  legislature  for  the  privilege,  how- 
ever, this  committee  are  not  advocating  bonds. 

That  as  all  have  a  right  to  and  do  use  the  public  highways,  all  prop- 
erty should  pay  something  toward  the  building  and  repairing  inter-town 
permanent  roads. 

That  the  rich  town  or  city  has  got  to  help  the  poor  town  on  inter-town 
roads  or  there  never  will  be  any. 

In  Michigan  at  the  present  time,  5-13  only  of  the  property  pays  any  tax 
to  build  or  repair  the  highways,  namely  farm  property. 

That  it  is  as  equitable  for  the  village,  city  or  corporation  property  to 
pay  toward  the  roads  that  all  use,  as  it  is  for  the  farm  property  to  pay 
toward  the  colleges,  the  asylums  and  the  reformatories  that  only  a  few 
use  and  the  farmer  the  least  of  all. 

But,  nothing  can  be  done  toward  State  aid  until  the  constitution  is 
changed. 

It  ought  to  be  changed,  and  at  once. 

The  Legislature  should  submit  the  changing  of  it  to  the  electors  at 
their  next  opportunity. 

The  section  that  forbids  any  State  aid  for  highways  is  given  below  in 
small  type,  and  the  words  that  ought  to  be  inserted  are  given  between 
the  brackets  in  capitals. 

Sec.  9  of  Art  14 ;  "The  State  shall  not  be  a  party  to  or  interested  in 
any  work  or  internal  improvement,  nor  engaged  in  carrying  on  any  such 
work,  except  [IN  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  PUBLIC  HIGHWAYS 
AND],  in  the  expenditure  of  grants  to  the  State,  of  land  or  other  prop- 
erty. Provided,  however,  that  the  legislature  of  the  State,  by  appro- 
priate legislation  may  authorize  the  city  of  Grand  Rapids  to  issue 
bonds  for  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  Grand  River." 

Then  an  appropriation  could  be  made  and  should  be  made  on  the 
Vermont  plan. 

The  Vermont  plan  is  to  divide  the  appropriation  by  the  number  of 
miles  of  road  and  streets  in  the  State  and  that  gives  the  allotment  per 
mile. 

In  Michigan  the  allotment  should  be  given  to  any  township  which 
raises  a  like  sum  or  more  and  builds  a  piece  of  permanent  road  according 
to  the  required  standard  of  the  State  commissioner. 

This  will  insure,  that  a  piece  of  first-class  road  or  street  will  be  built  in 
every  township,  village  and  city  every  year. 

This  is  the  best  plan  in  existence  and  has  been  tried  and  proven  so 
and  we  advocate  it. 


64  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 


HIGHWAY  COMMISSIONER'S  REPORT. 

Every  year  every  highway  commissioner  in  Michigan  should  be 
obliged  to  make  a  report  to  the  State  Highway  Commission,  Also  every 
superintendent  of  streets  under  whatever  name  he  may  be  called,  in 
every  city  and  incorporated  village  in  Michigan. 


HOW  MANY  MILES  OF  ROAD  IN  YOUR  TOWNSHIP? 


How   many  miles   of  dirt   road? 

How  many  miles  of  gravel  road? 

How  many  miles  of  stone  road? 

How  many  miles  repaired  of  dirt  road  ? . . 
How  many  miles  repaired  of  gravel  road? 
How  many  miles  repaired  of  stone  road  ? . . , 

Ho\v  many  miles  built  of  dirt  road? , 

How  many  miles  built  of  gravel   road?.... 

How  many  miles  built  of  stone  road? 

How   manv   road   Districts?    , 


Give  names  and  addresses  of  overseers: 


Have  you  gravel  in  your  township?   

Have  you  stone — what  kind? 

What  does  gravel  cost  per  cubic  yard? 

What  does  stone  cost  per  cubic  yard? 

How  many  days  of  statute  labor  was  assessed? 
How  many  more  should  have  been  assessed?.  . 

How  much  money  was  raised  for  roads  ? 

How  much  does  gravel  road  cost  per  mile?.  . .  . 

How  much  does  stone  road  cost  per  mile? , 

How  much  gravel  do  you  use  per  mile? 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  65 

How  much  stone  do  YOU  use  per  mile? 

Are  vour  roads  improving,  if  so,  why? 

What  road  machinery  have  YOU  ? 

What  was  the  cost  of  each  machine  ? 

Does  this  machinery  give  satisfaction  ? 

What  have  you  discovered  this  year  that  ought  to  be  communicated  to 
everv  other  road  builder  or  mender  in  the  State?. . 


SUPERINTENDENT'S  OF  STREETS. 

How  many  miles  of  streets  in  your  city  or  village? 

How  many  miles  of  dirt  street? 

How  many  miles  of  gravel  street? 

How  many  miles  of  macadam  street? 

How  many  miles  of  wood  block  street? 

How  many  miles  of  brick  paved  street? 

How  many  miles  of  stone  paved  street  ? 

How  many  miles  of  asphalt  block  paved  street? 

How  many  miles  of  asphalt  sheet  paved  street? 

How  many  miles  of  bituminous  macadam  paved  street  ? 

How  many  miles  of  other  paved  streets  ? 

How  many  miles  repaired  and  of  what 

With  what? 

How  many  miles  built  and  of  what? 

What  does  each  cost  you  per  square  yard  macadam  ? 

Wood  block  on  sand? Wood  block  on  concrete? Brick  on 

concrete? Asphalt  block  on  concrete? Asphalt  sheet  on 

concrete? Bituminous  macadam? What  improvement  have 

you  made  or  discovered  that  would  benefit  other  cities  if  known  by  them? 


These  reports  should  be  sent  to  the  State  Highway  Commission  before 
the  first  day  of  December,  each  year,  that  the  facts  and  figures  contained 
therein  might  be  had  on  file  where  any  citizen  in  the  State  could  get  at 
them,  and  the  most  important  ones  to  be  incorporated  into  the  yearly  re- 
port. 

One  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-four  reports  should  be  received  at 
the  headquarters  department  of  public  highways. 

83  county  reports,  78  city  reports,  211  village  reports,  and  1192  town- 
ship reports. 
9 


66  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 


MEMORIALIZE  CONGRESS. 

The  legislature  of  Michigan  should  pass  a  resolution  memorializing 
Congress  to  appropriate  as  much  money  for  highways  as  they  do  for 
waterways,  and  no  less  for  waterways  than  they  now  do. 

The  national  government  should  be  a  partner  in  the  inter-town  and  in- 
ter-state roads. 

For  every  dollar  that  the  town  or  county  will  appropriate  for  these 
roads,  the  State  should  appropriate  another,  and  the  national  government 
still  another. 

Then  the  large  accumulation  of  wealth  in  New  York,  Boston,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore,  and  other  large  cities  will  have  a  chance  to  contribute  to 
the  commerce  arteries  of  their  country  which  has  made  them  what  they 
are. 


COUNTY  ROAD  SYSTEM. 

Twelve  or  more  counties  have  adopted  the  County  Road  System  and 
more  undoubtedly  would  if  it  was  better  understood. 

But  to  refuse  to  adopt  is  a  blessing  second  only  in  size  and  worth  to  the 
adoption,  for  in  either  the  refusing  to  submit  the  question  to  the  people  by 
the  board  of  supervisors,  or  the  actually  voting  the  proposition  down  by 
the  people,  when  it  is  submitted  gives  to  every  township  in  the  county  the 
right  to  adopt  the  plan  as  a  township  system.  Then  the  township  board 
can  lay  out  such  roads  as  they  think  best  as  township  roads  and  levy  a  tax 
not  to  exceed  %  of  one  per  cent  on  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  township 
for  the  necessary  funds  to  build  them. 

If  State  aid  prevailed,  as  it  does  in  some  states,  this  fund  together  with 
the  State  aid  would  give  a  handsome  sum  every  year  to  invest  in  perma- 
nent gravel  or  stone  roads. 

After  the  county  has  refused,  either  by  their  board  of  supervisors  or  by 
vote  of  the  people  to  adopt  the  county  system,  the  township* that  has 
adopted  it  as  a  township  system  cannot  be  forced  into  the  county  system 
by  the  other  towns  in  the  county  or  in  any  other  way  until  her  own 
electors  by  a  two-thirds  majority,  vote  to  go  in. 

So  that  any  township  that  does  adopt  the  plan  is  guarded  against  the 
possibility  of  after  having  built  their  own  roads  of  being  forced  to  help 
to  build  roads  for  other  parts  of  the  county. 

I  have  the  pleasure  to  attach  hereto  the  first  report  ever  given  in  Michi- 
gan by  a  county  to  a  State  highway  commission,  and  such  a  report  as 
ought  to  be  on  file  from  every  county  which  has  adopted  the  system  every 
year. 

Here  is  a  great  object  lesson  r  this  county  has  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  miles  of  county  good  road,  and  has  only  an  assessed  valuation 
of  about  |10,000,000,  while  Wayne  county  has  an  assessed  valuation  of 
thirty  times  this  amount  and  surrounds  Detroit  the  metropolis  of  Michi- 
gan a  system  of  township  mud  roads  very  near  as  impassable  as  is 
the  wall  around  China,  yet  we  hear  a  great  deal  about  their  uncivilized 
condition  and  about  Beautiful  Detroit. 

I  also  attach  a  letter  received  by  me  from  the  Bay  City  Tribune,  in 
answer  to  one,  in  which  I  asked  them  if  they  would  or  could  afford  to 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     WOl-lWi  67 

sell  the  good  roads  of  Bay  county  for  what  they  cost  if  it  was  possible  to, 
their  answer  explains  itself. 

TO  MICHIGAN  HIGHWAY  COMMISSION. 
705  Fourth  Ave.. 

Detroit,  Mich. 

Gentlemen :  I  beg  to  submit  the  following  report : 

The  Menominee  County  Road  System  was  organized  under  the  Law  of 
1893.  A  Resolution  of  the  County  Board,  passed  October  11,  1893  sub- 
mitted the  question  to  a  vote  of  the  people  at  a  Special  Election  called  for 
that  purpose  on  Nov.  27,  1893. 

April,  1894,  the  first  Commissioners  were  elected;  being  A.  C.  Stephen- 
son,  Menominee,  Mich.,  A.  F.  McGillis,  Menominee,  Mich.,  and  Ira  Carley, 
Ingalls,  Mich. 

On  April  28,  18(J4.  tin*  County  Board  submitted  the  question  of  bonding 
the  County  for  $25,000.00  for  a  fund  for  building  County  Roads,  which 
was  carried  at  a  special  election,  held  the  2nd  Monday  in  June.  This 
amount  was  expended  during  the  summer  and  a  road  was  laid  out  and 
adopted  from  Menominee  to  Powers,  a  distance  of  42  miles ;  but  the  funds 
were  not  sufficient  to  complete  it  and  on  Oct.  11,  1894  the  County  sub- 
mitted a  proposition  to  raise  a  further  fund  of  $25,000.00  by  a  bond  issue 
which  was  carried  at  a  special  election  in  Dec.  1894,  and  in  addition  a  tax 
was  levied  for  1894,  $9.822.74;  for  1895,  $10,023.20;  for  1896,  $7,500.00; 
for  1897.  s!i.!ii>r,.:;s;  lor  1898,  $9.428.25;  for  1899,  $8,949.59;  for  1900", 
18,874.65:  for  1901,  $15.877.93.  Total  tax  levy,  ssn.401.74.  By  bonds, 
$50.000.00. 

Total  appropriation,  $130,401.74  to  date,  for  which  the  County  has  built 
102  miles  of  road;  being  a  24  ft.  turnpike  with  ditches  in  all  swamp  lands 
and  includes  about  eight  and  one-half  miles  of  crushed  stone  and  several 
miles  of  fine  gravel  road. 

We  have  this  year  built  about  two  and  one-quarter  (21/i)  miles  crushed 
stone  road,  and  about  5  miles  of  new  gravel  road,  that  was  adopted  last 
year.  We  have  also  adopted  about  15  miles  of  newr  road  this  year  upon 
which  nothing  has  been  done,  but  expect  to  do  considerable  work  on  these 
roads  next  year,  as  our  Board  of  Supervisors  have  appropriated  nearly 
thirteen  thousand  $13,000.00)  dollars  for  next  year's  work,  which  natur- 
ally makes  us  feel  very  generous  toward  the  Board,  and  we  shall  make  a 
"Teat  effort  to  give  our  people  value  received  for  their  money.  We  also 
have  iwo  or  three*  steel  bridges  to  build  along  our  main  road  to  take  the 
place  of  wooden  ones,  that  have  seen  their  best  days.  We  think  we  have 
the  best  outfit  for  building  roads  of  any  county  in  the  State,  consisting  of 
Crusher.  Gasoline  Engine  to  run  same.  Keller  Steam  Road  Roller.  Street 
Sprinkler  Wagons,  Wheel  Scrapers,  etc..  including  two  complete  outfits 
of  tents,  cook,  sleeping,  and  also  stable  tents  that  hold  six  teams  or 
twelve  horses,  boarding  with  our  men  right  in  the  work.  This  year  we 
started  our  two  crews  out  the  last  of  April  and  they  have  been  con- 
stantly at  work,  and  if  the  weather  will  permit  we  expect  to  keep  them 
at  work  until  Nov.  15.  We  find  this  method  of  working  men  much  better 
than  putting  on  more  crews,  and  rushing  the  work  through  in  two  or  three 
months  as  it  insures  us  steady  and  practical  road  makers. 

FRANK  L.  DUNNING, 

County  Road  Commissioner. 


68  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

Hon.  Horatio  S.  Earle, 

Detroit,  Mich. 

Dear  Senator:  Your  postal  of  the  21st  inst,  at  hand  and  noted.  Our 
County  Road  Commissioners  of  which  we  have  three  (3)  elected  for 
6  years,  one  every  two  years,  are  paid  three  ($3.00)  dollars  per  day 
and  expenses  for  actual  service.  They  make  their  personal  bills  to  Meno- 
minee  County,  and  they  are  paid  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  out  of  the 
Contingent  Fund  of  the  county,  as  our  county  road  law  does  not  permit 
the  Road  Commissioners  to  audit  and  pay  their  own  bills  out  of  the  Coun- 
ty Road  Fund.  Very  truly  yours, 

FRANK  L.  DUNNING, 

County  Road  Commissioner. 


From  the  peri  of  Dr.  A.  W.  Nichols,  Greenville,  Mich. 

COUNTY  ROAD  SYSTEM. 
Some  reasons  why  it  should  be  adopted  in  this  county. 

The  Board  of  Supervisors  at  the  last  session  voted  to  publish  a  synopsis 
of  the  County  Good  Roads  law,  which  may  be  recapitulated  as  follows : 

First:  That  it  requires  a  two- thirds  (2-3)  vote  of  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  to  submit  the  question  to  the  voters  of  the  county. 

Second :  That  the  election  mav  be  held  at  any  general  or  special  elec- 
tion. 

Third:  The  number  of  commissioners  is  not  to  exceed  five  (5)  nor  less 
than  two  (2),  and  said  commissioners  shall  be  chosen  by  the  people. 

Fourth :  The  compensation  of  the  commissioners  is  fixed  by  the  Board 
of  Supervisors. 

Fifth :  The  tax  for  the  construction  of  roads  under  the  county  system 
as  defined  by  the  law  shall  not  exceed  a  two  (2)  mill  tax  nor  be  less  than 
a  one  (1)  mill  tax  annually. 

Sixth :  The  law  is  very  clear  that  no  commissioner  or  Board  of  Super- 
visors shall  expend  one  dollar  more  than  provided  in  the  law,  and  that 
in  no  case  shall  they  issue  bonds  without  a  majority  vote  of  the  voters 
of  the  county,  so  there. is  no  danger  of  its  being  any  more  of  a  tax  in  the 
future  than  at  present,  or  after  adoption  of  the  County  Road  System. 

Some  States  have  permitted  the  issuing  of  bonds,  but  our  Michigan  leg- 
islature was  very  wise  in  providing  that  they  could  not  be  issued  without 
a  majority  vote  of  the  people  of  the  county. 

Seventh :  Another  important  feature  of" the  law  is  that  after  the  adop- 
tion of  this  system  of  road  building  by  the  county,  a  majority  of  the 
people  conclude  that  it  is  unwise,  or  they  desire  to  rescind  the  same,  they 
can  do  so  at  any  general  or  special  election.  So  by  coming  under  the 
Good  Roads  law  there  is  no  danger  of  the  people  being  bound  to  something 
they  don't  like  unless  the  majority  of  the  people  say  go.  And  the  majority 
of  the  people  do  not  usually  vote  for  something  they  do  not  like,  and  are 
always  willing  to  rescind  any  law  that  is  obnoxious. 

At  the  present  time  all  the  labor  and  expense  that  is  placed  upon  the 
highways  of  the  county  is  paid  by  the  farmers  exclusively,  but  under  the 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  69 

new  system  all  the  taxpayers  must  contribute  their  just  proportion.  It  is 
estimated  that  40  per  cent  of  the  county  tax  comes  from  the  farmers  and 
60  per  cent  from  other  property  and  other  sources,  hence  should  the  elec- 
tors of  this  county  see  fit  to  come  under  the  County  System  of  Road  Build- 
ing the  farmers  would  be  relieved  of  at  least  60  per  cent  of  the  expenditure 
for  the  building  of  roads. 

Under  the  present  system  very  many  townships,  as  well  as  individuals, 
go  to  considerable  expense  in  the  building  of  roads.  Some  farmers  in  this 
county  pay  out  a  great  many  dollars  every  year  for  the  improvement  of 
roads  in  their  vicinity,  but  road  building,  like  everything  else,  requires  a 
certain  knowledge  of  the  methods  of  proper  construction  of  roads,  and  a 
great  proporton  of  the  money  that  is  now  expended  and  the  labor  that  is 
performed  is  simply  a  waste  of  time  and  money.  Roads  in  the  county 
that  have  been  in  existence  for  40  or  50  years  can  often  be  found  in  a 
worse  condition  than  they  were  20  or  30  years  ago,  excepting  possibly  the 
removal  of  stumps,  etc. 

The  expense  for  the  construction  of  roads  is  mere  nominal  as  compared 
with  the  benefit  to  be  derived.  The  average  farmer  of  this  county,  and  I 
might  say  the  average  taxpayer  of  the  county,  would  not  be  obliged  under 
this  law  to  pay  more  than  one  or  two  dollars  a  year,  and  hundreds  of 
householders  20  to  40  cents  a  year,  to  meet  the  tax  for  the  construction  of 
good  roads.  Many  farmers  are  paying  hundreds  of  dollars  in  various  por- 
tions of  the  State,  and  occasionally  in  this  county,  in  one  year  for  drain- 
age over  their  land.  For  instance,  in  one  of  our  townships  a  widowed 
lady  is  obliged  to  pay  this  year  a  drainage  tax  which  is  greater  than  what 
she  would  be  obliged  to  pay,  if  we  were  under  the  County  Road  System, 
for  43  years  for  road  tax,  and  before  the  43  years  had  expired  the  high- 
ways of  this  county  would  be  real  boulevards  equal  to  the  German  roads 
where  shade  trees,  fountains  and  milestones  border  the  macadam  highway. 

Again,  the  money  that  is  raised  for  the  construction  of  roads  is  not  to  be 
sent  out  of  the  county.  It  is  to  be  put  on  to  the  roads  and  those  who  may 
possibly  feel  the  tax  can  turn  around  and  come  under  the  employ  of  the 
commissioners  and  in  that  way  work  out  their  tax. 

The  question  of  the  construction  of  good  roads  is  uppermost  in  the 
minds  of  a  large  class  of  people  throughout  the  country.  It  is  something 
that  is  coming  and  something  that  will  soon  be  upon  us,  and  it  would 
be  well  for  the  people  of  Montcalm  county  to  give  it  immediate  considera- 
tion. We  have  one  of  the  finest  and  most  prosperous  counties  in  the 
State,  and  all  we  lack  is  good  roads.  While  other  counties  that  are  under 
the  County  System  of  building  roads  are  to  much  expense  on  account  of 
lack  of  material,  Montcalm  county  is  relieved  from  all  that  extra  expense, 
for  probably  no  county  in  the  State  is  so  abundantly  supplied  with  ma- 
terial for  good  road  building,  in  the  form  of  gravel  and  stone,  as  is  to  be 
found  in  this  county.  In  fact,  on  account  of  the  convenience  of  material, 
the  naturally  level  surface  of  the  land,  by  appropriating  a  one  or  two  mill 
tax  for  five  or  six  years,  should  result  in  making  good  leading  highways 
all  over  the  county,  and  in  ten  years  should  make  us  excellent  roads  in 
front  of  nearly  every  farm. 

Perhaps  the  following  will  illustrate  the  economy  incident  to  £ood 
roads.  It  saves  wagons  and  buggies,  the  harness  and  horses,  and.  above 
all.  will  be  a  great  saving  in  time.  A  irentlenian  said  the  other  day.  that 
he  had  a  farm  assessed  at  £800  and  that  he  raised  this  year  1,100  bushels 
of  potatoes:  that  it  would  require  22  days  to  draw  those  potatoes  to  mar- 


70  STATE     OF    MICHIGAN 

ket  over  the  road  now  existing  between  his  place  and  the  market,  but  if 
the  road  was  as  good  as  the  new  road  recently  built  north  of  Greenville  he 
said  that  he  could  draw  those  potatoes  to  market  in  five  days  and  a  half. 
Supposing  that  his  team,  wagon  and  himself  were  worth  |2  a  day,  22  days 
would  amount  to  f  44.  The  tax  of  $1.60  a  year,  his  road  tax  in  ten  years 
would  amount  to  $16.  The  expense  of  hauling  his  potatoes  to  market  over 
good  roads  would  be  $11  plus  the  $16,  the  tax  for  the  construction  of 
roads,  would  equal  $27.  Thus  by  coming  under  the  County  Koad  System 
would  save  this  farmer  in  the  course  of  ten  years,  aside  from  paying  his 
tax,  $314,  and  at  the  expiration  of  ten  years  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  we 
would  have  excellent  roads  all  over  the  county,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
them  macadamized. 

It  is  probable  that  on  the  average  12  or  15  prisoners  are  held  in  the 
county  jail  and  house  of  correction  at  Detroit  who  could  be  employed  at 
even  less  expense  on  roads ;  but  this  cannot  be  done  without  the  adoption 
of  the  County  System  of  road  building. 

See  Sec.  1-4262,  page  1353,  Vol.  2,  Compiled  Laws  of  Michigan,  1897. 

A.  W.  NICHOLS. 

October  3,  1902. 
Mr.  Horatio  S.  Earle, 

Detroit,  Mich. 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  in  receipt  of  yours  of  the  7th  from  Gaylord  and  note 
what  you  say.  This  information  relative  to  stone  roads,  etc.,  I  tried  very 
hard  to  get  in  all  the  details  to  have  same  put  upon  our  maps  of  Bay 
County  which  we  recently  issued,  but  I  was  unable  to  obtain  same  with- 
out going  to  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  some  little  expense,  and  gave  it 
up.  Therefore,  I  can  only  answer  your  letter  in  a  general  way.  I  will 
say  that  we  have  just  about  one  hundred  miles  of  stone  road  in  Bay 
County,  and  so  far  as  I  know  or  can  learn,  it  is  extremely  well  thought 
of  by  all  of  our  citizens,  both  in  the  city  and  country.  We  consider  that 
it  has  been  a  great  help  to  Bay  City  as  well  as  to  the  farmers,  and  have 
no  idea  that  we  would  care  to  be  without  our  stone  roads  at  anything  like 
what  they  cost. 

I  wish  I  was  able  to  give  you  further  information  on  the  subject,  but 
am  unable  to  do  so. 

With  kindest  regards  and  regretting  my  inability  to  give  you  the  com- 
plete data,  I  remain,  Yours" very  truly, 

J.  W.  SNYDER, 
Of  The  Bav  Citv  Tribune. 


MICHIGAN'S  GOOD  ROADS  EXPOSITION. 

Tho  Michigan  Good  Roads  Exposition  held  at  Greenville,  July  29,  30, 
and  .''1st  was  1he  greater  in  numbers  (25,000  estimated  attendance)  and 
greater  enthusiasm  than  any  good  roads  convention  that  it  was  ever  my 
privilege  to  attend. 

During  the  convention  the  sample  road  was  inspected  which  is  reported 
by  Mr.  Frank  F.  Rogers,  Consulting  Engineer,  elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
and  spoor-lies  wore  made  by  W.  A.  Cook,  Frankfort,  N.  Y. ;  Dr.  E.  B.  Smith, 
Detroit,  Midi.;  Mr.  E.  L.  Powers,  of  the  Good  Roads  Magazine,  New 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  71 

York;  Mr.  L.  C.  Boardnian,  of  the  New  York  Tri- Weekly  Tribune.  New 
York;  Hon.  Martin  Dodge,  Director  of  Public  Road  Inquiries,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.;  Hon.  W.  L.  Dickinson,  Springfield,  Mass.,  President  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley  Highway  Association;  Capt.  Edward  P.  Allen,  Ypsi- 
lanti,  Mich. ;  Dr.  A.  W.  Nichols,  Greenville,  Mich. ;  Gov.  A.  T.  Bliss,  Hon. 
Charles  J.  Monroe,  South  Haven,  Mich. ;  Hon.  A.  B.  Darragh,  Representa- 
tive in  Congress;  Mr.  Frank  F.  Rogers,  Consulting  Engineer,  Port  Hu- 
ron, Mich. ;  Hon.  E.  B.  Lapham,  Belding,  Mich. ;  and  Horatio  S.  Earle, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  President  of  the  American  Road  Makers,  and  of  the  Michi- 
gan Highway  Commission,  under  whose  auspices  this  great  convention 
was  held,  assisted  by  the  office  of  Public  Road  Inquiries,  Washington, 
D.  C. 

A  few  of  the  many  good  speeches  are  attached,  and  the  only  reason  that 
all  are  not  is  the  lack  of  the  manuscripts. 

The  first  is  an  extract  of  Governor  A.  T.  Bliss's  remarks  as  taken  by 
the  special  correspondent,  and  as  it  appeared  in  the  Municipal  Journal 
and  Engineer  of  New  York  City. 

Gov.  Bliss  during  his  talk  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  criti- 
cised for  making  some  appointments,  but  that  he  felt  sure  that  no  one 
would  have  cause  to  complain  of  the  appointment  of  Senator  H.  S.  Earle 
as  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  to  investigate  and  report  upon  the 
conditions  of  and  how  to  improve  the  Michigan  Highways." 

"As  a  result  of  that  appointment  we  have  to-day  one  of  the  most  pro- 
gressive movements  for  better  highways  to  be  found  in  the  United  States 
and  a  commission  that  is  thoroughly  alive  to  the  situation.  I  may  say 
in  advance  of  receiving  the  report  that  I  am  conversant  with  the  fact  that 
certain  recommendations  will  be  made  which  cannot  fail  to  meet  general 
approval,  one  of  them  is  the  creation  of  a  department  of  highways.  This 
I  believe  to  be  in  the  right  direction,  and  that  much  good  will  come  there- 
from." 


LETTER  OF  INVITATION. 

UXITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

Office  of  Public  Road  Inqui; 
Washington,  D.  C.,  July  10,  1902. 

Dear  Sir:  The  Michigan  Good  Roads  Exposition  will  be  held  at  Green- 
ville, Midi.,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and  Thursday,  July  29,  30,  and  31,  1902, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Road  Makers,  the  Michigan  Highway 
Commission,  the  Montcalm  County  Road  Makers,  and  the  U.  S.  Office  of 
Public  Road  Inquiries.  The  invitation  is  issued  by  State  Senator  Horatio 
S.  Earle.  who  is  President  of  the  American  Road  Makers  and  Chairman 
of  the  Michigan  Highway  Commission. 

Senator  Earle  asks  me  to  respectfully  and  urgently  request  you  to 
attend  this  exposition,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  quoting  from  his  letter  as 
follows : 

Earlo's  Pore  Marquette  Railway  Good  Roads  train,  with  its  road 
experts  and  engines;  iher  with  the  most  m-xlem  madiinery  for 

building  and  repairing  roads  dieaply,  will  arrive  at  Greenville  prior  to 
July  29  for  the  purpose  of  having  in  different  stages  of  completion  a  stone 
road,  a  gravel  road,  and  a  common  dirt  road,  thus  presenting,  when  the 


72  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

exposition  begins,  object  lessons  of  the  best  methods  of  constructing  and 
repairing  such  roads. 

Special  invitations  have  been  extended  to  the  United  States  Senators 
and  Representatives  from  Michigan,  to  Governor  A.  T.  Bliss,  and  all 
State  officials,  to  the  members  of  the  last  Legislature,  and  all  known 
probable  members  of  the  next,  and  to  the  officials  of  the  leading  good 
roads  associations  in  the  United  States.  A  sufficient  number  of  these 
invitations  have  already  been  accepted  to  warrant  the  belief  that  this 
meeting  will  exceed  in  numbers  and  excel  in  importance  any  meeting 
ever  held  in  the  State  of  Michigan  for  the  consideration  of  a  National 
economical  subject. 

All  road-machinery  manufacturers  in  the  United^  States  have  been 
invited  to  make  exhibitions  of  their  machinery,  and 'no  charge  will  be 
made  for  the  privilege  of  exhibiting  or  for  admittance  to  the  exhibition. 

Good  Roads  Machinery  Day  will  be  held  on  Tuesday,  July  29,  when 
Earle's  overland  good  roads  train  and  all  other  portable  machinery  will 
parade  through  the  streets  of  Greenville  and  will  carry  all  visitors  to  the 
road  exhibits. 

U.  S.  Government  Day  will  be  held  on  Wednesday,  July  30,  when  Hon. 
Martin  Dodge,  Director  of  the  Office  of  Public  Road  Inquiries;  Frank 
F.  Rogers,  consulting  engineer  for  the  Michigan  Highway  Commission, 
and  others  will  address  the  assembly  at  the  road  exhibits.  On  the  even- 
ing of  this  day,  State  Senator  H.  S.  Earle  and  W.  L.  Dickinson,  President 
of  the  Connecticut  Valley  Highway  Association,  of  Springfield,  Mass., 
and  other  prominent  speakers  will,  weather  permitting,  make  addresses 
in  the  open  air. 

Michigan  Day  will  be  held  on  Thursday,  July  31,  when  the  last  trip  of 
the  Good  Roads  train  to  the  sample  road  will  be  made,  on  which  occasion 
Governor  Bliss  and  other  State  officials  will  make  addresses  on  various 
phases  of  the  road  subject. 

The  sample  road  that  is  to  be  built  at  Greenville  will  be  located  in  the 
center  of  the  greatest  potato  region  in  the  world,  where  good  roads  will 
admit  of  big  loads,  thus  saving  thousands  of  dollars  in  transportation. 

Persons  desiring  to  attend  this  exposition  may  obtain  half-fare  rates 
on  all  the  railroads  in  the  Lower  Peninsula  of  Michigan  by  asking  for 
tickets  to  the  Good  Roads  Exposition  at  Greenville. 

I  therefore  trust  that  you  will  be  able  to  attend  and  participate  in  this 
exposition,  and  that  the  purposes  of  the  same  may  be  fully  attained. 

Very  respectfully, 

MARTIN  DODGE, 

Director. 


SPEECH  OF  HON.  MARTIN  DODGE  AT  MICHIGAN  GOOD  ROADS 

EXPOSITION. 

HELD  AT  GREENVILLE,   MICHIGAN,  JULY  29-30  and  31,  1902. 

In  his  address  on  the  subject  of  government  co-operation  in  object  les- 
son road  work,  the  Hon.  Martin  Dodge,  of  Washington,  spoke  as  follows: 

"In  a  government  having  a  composite  nature  like  that  of  the  United 
States,  it  is  always  easy  to  determine  just  what  share  the  general  govern- 
ment5  the  State  government  and  the  local  government  should  respectively 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  73 

take  in  carrying  out  highway  work,  though  it  is  generally  admitted  that 
there  should  be  co-operation  among  them  all. 

"In  the  early  history  of  the  republic,  the  National  government  itself 
laid  out  and  partially  completed  a  great  national  system  of  highways 
connecting  the  East  with  the  West,  and  the  capital  of  the  nation  with 
its  then  most  distant  possessions.  Fourteen  million  dollars  in  all  was 
appropriated  by  acts  of  Congress  to  be  devoted  to  this  purpose,  an  amount 
almost  equal  to  that  paid  for  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  In  other  words, 
it  cost  the  government  substantially  as  much  to  make  that  territory  acces- 
sible as  to  purchase  it;  and  what  is  true  of  that  territory  in  its  largest 
sense  is  also  true  in  a  small  way  of  nearly  every  tract  of  land  that  is 
opened  up  and  used  for  the  purposes  of  civilization;  that  is  to  say:  It 
will  cost  as  much  to  build  up,  improve  and  maintain  the  roads  of  any 
given  section  of  the  country  as  the  land  in  its  primitive  condition  is 
worth,  and  the  same  rule  wrill  apply  in  most  cases  after  the  land  value  has 
advanced  considerably  beyond  that  of  its  primitive  condition.  It  is  a 
general  rule  that  the  suitable  improvement  of  a  highway  within  reasona- 
ble limitations  will  double  the  value  of  the  land  adjacent  to  it.  Seven 
millions  of  dollars,  half  of  the  total  sum  appropriated  by  acts  of  Congress 
for  the  National  road  system,  was  devoted  to  building  the  Cumberland 
road,  from  Cumberland,  Md.,  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  the  most  central  point  in 
the  great  Louisiana  Purchase,  and  TOO  mile  west  of  Cumberland.  The 
total  cost  of  this  great  road  was  wholly  paid  out  of  the  United  States 
treasury,  and  though  never  fully  completed  on  the  western  end,  it  is  the 
longest  straight  road  ever  built  by  any  government.  The  cost  per  mile 
was,  approximately,  $10,000.  It  furnishes  the  only  important  instance 
the  country  has  ever  had  of  the  general  government  providing  a  highway 
at  its  own  expense.  The  plan,  however,  wras  never  carried  to  completion, 
and  since  its  abandonment,  two  generations  ago,  the  people  of  the  different 
states  have  provided  their  own  highways. 


DIFFERENT  EPOCHS  CONTRASTED. 

"The  skill  of  the  local  supervisor  was  sufficient  in  primitive  times,  so 
long  as  his  principal  duties  consisted  in  clearing  the  way  of  trees,  logs, 
stumps  and  other  obstructions,  and  shaping  the  earth  of  which  the 
roadbed  was  composed  into  a  little  better  form  than  nature  had  left  it; 
and  the  resources  at  his  command  were  sufficient  so  long  as  he  was  author- 
ized to  call  on  every  able-bodied  male  citizen  between  21  and  45  years  of 
age  to  do  ten  days'  labor  annually  on  the  road,  especially  when  the  only 
labor  expected  was  that  of  dealing  writh  the  material  found  on  the  spot. 
The  local  road  officer  now  not  only  finds  himself  deficient  in  skill  and  the 
proper  kind  of  resources,  but  he  discovers  in  many  cases  that  the  number 
of  persons  subject  to  his  call  for  road  work  has  greatly  diminished.  The 
great. cities  to  the  north  have  absorbed  half  of  the  population  in  all  the 
states  north  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and*  those  living  in 
these  great  cities  are  not  subject  to  the  former  duties  of  working  the 
roads,  nor  do  they  pay  any  compensation  in  money  in  lieu  thereof.  So  the 
statute  labor  has  not  only  become  unsuitable  for  the  service  to  be  per- 
formed, but  it  is.  as  stated,  greatly  diminished.  In  the  former  genera- 
tions substantially  all  the  people  contributed  to  the  construction  of  the 
highways  under  the  statute  labor  system,  but  at  the  present  time  not 
10 


74  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

more  than  half  the  population  is  subject  to  this  service,  and  this,  too, 
at  a  time  when  the  need  for  highway  improvement  is  greatest. 

"Former  inhabitants  of  the  abandoned  farms  or  the  deserted  villages 
cannot  be  followed  to  the  great  cities,  and  the  road  tax  which  they  form- 
erly paid  be  collected  from  them  again  to  improve  the  country  roads ;  but 
it  can  be  provided  that  all  the  property  owners  in  every  city,  as  well  as 
in  every  county,  shall  pay  a  money  tax  into  a  general  fund,  which  shall 
be  devoted  exclusively  to  the  improvement  of  highways  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts. The  State  itself  can  maintain  a  general  fund  out  of  which  a 
portion  of  the  cost  of  every  principal  highwray  in  the  State  shall  be  paid, 
and  by  so  doing  all  the  people  of  the  State  will  contribute  to  improving 
highways,  as  they  once  did  in  the  early  history  of  the  nation,  when  sub- 
stantially all  the  wealth  and  population  was  distributed  almost  equally 
throughout  the  settled  portions  of  the  country. 

"Having  a  general  fund  of  money  instead  of  statute  labor,  it  would  be 
possible  to  introduce  more  scientific  and  more  economical  methods  of 
construction  with  co-operation.  This  co-operation,  formerly  applied  with 
good  results  to  the  primitive  conditions,  but  which  has  been  partially  lost 
by  the  diminution  in  the  number  and  skill  of  the  co-workers,  would  be 
restored  again  in  a  great  measure  by  drawing  the  money  with  which  to 
improve  the  roads  out  of  a  general  fund  to  which  all  had  contributed. 


RECOMMENDS  CONVICT  LABOR. 

"In  many  countries  the  army  has  been  used  to  advantage  in  time  of 
peace  in  building  up  and  maintaining  the  highways.  There  is  no  army  in 
this  country  for  such  a  purpose,  but  there  is  an  army  of  prisoners  in 
every  State,  whose  labor  is  so  directed  and  has  been  so  directed  for  genera- 
tions past,  that  it  adds  little  or  nothing  to  the  commonwealth.  The  labor 
of  these  prisoners,  properly  applied  and  directed,  would  be  of  great  benefit 
and  improvement  to  the  highways,  and  would  add  greatly  to  the  national 
wealth;  while  at  the  same  time  it  would  lighten  the  pressure  of  competi- 
tion writh  free  labor  by  withdrawing  the  prison  labor  from  the  manufac- 
ture of  commercial  articles  and  applying  it  to  work  not  now  performed; 
that  is,  the  building  of  highways  or  preparing  material  to  te  used  therefor. 

"The  general  government,  having  withdrawn  from  the  field  of  road  con- 
struction in  1832,  has  since  done  little  in  that  line  until  very  recently. 
Eight  years  ago  Congress  appropriated  a  small  sum  of  money  for  the 
purpose  of  instituting  a  sort  of  inquiry  into  the  prevailing  condition  of 
things  pertaining  to  road  matters.  This  appropration  has  been  con- 
tinued from  year  to  year  and  increased  during  the  last  two  years  with  a 
view  of  co-operating  to  a  limited  extent  with  other  efforts  in  road  con- 
struction. With  a  view  to  securing  scientific  facts  in  reference  to  the 
value  of  road-building  materials,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  has  estab- 
lished at  Washington,  D.  C.,  a  mechanical  and  chemical  laboratory  for 
testing  such  material  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Prof.  L.  W.  Page, 
late  of  Harvard  university,  is  in  charge  of  this  laboratory,  and  has  tested 
many  samples  of  rock  without  charge  to  those  having  the  test  made. 
There  is,  however,  no  test  equal  to  the  actual  application  of  the  material 
to  the  road  itself. 

"With  a  view  to  making  more  extensive  tests  than  could  be  done  by 
laboratorv  work  alone,  the  director  of  the  Office  of  Public  Road  Inquiries 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  75 

has.  during  the  past  two  years,  co-operated  with  the  local  authorities  in 
many  different  States  in  building  short  sections  of  object-lesson  roads. 
In  this  work  it  is  intended  not  only  to  contribute  something  by  way  of 
co-operation  on  the  part  of  as  many  different  interests  connected  with 
the  road  question  as  possible.  The  local  community  having  the  road 
built  is  most  largely  interested,  and  is  expected  to  furnish  the  common 
labor  and  domestic  material.  The  railroad  companies  generally 
co-operate  because  they  are  interested  in  having  better  roads  to 
and  from  their  railroad  stations.  They,  therefore,  contribute  by 
transporting  free  or  at  very  low  rates,  iho  machinery  and  such  for- 
eign material  as  is  needed  in  the  construction  of  the  road.  The  manufac- 
turers of  earth-handling  and  road-building  machinery  co-operate  by  fur- 
nishing all  needed  machinery  for  the  most  economical  construction  of  the 
road,  and  in  many  cases  prison  labor  is  used  in  preparing  material  which 
finally  goes  into  the  completed  roadbed.  The  contribution  which  the 
general  government  makes  in  this  scheme  of  co-operation  is  both  actually 
and  relatively  small,  but  it  is  by  no  means  of  this  limited  co-operation 
that  it  has  been  possible  to  produce  a  large  number  of  object-lesson  roads 
in  different  states.  These  have  proved  very  beneficial,  not  only  in  show- 
ing the  scientific  side  of  the  question,  but  the  economical  side  as  well. 

"In  the  year  1900,  object-lesson  roads  were  built  under  the  direction  of 
the  office  of  public  road  inquiries  near  Port  Huron,  Saginaw  and  Traverse 
City.  Mich. :  Springfield.  111.,  and  Topeka,  Kan.  Since  that  time  the  object- 
lexvnn  roads  so  built  have  been  extended  and  duplicated  by  the  local 
authorities  without  further  aid  from  the  government.  The  people  are  so 
well  pleased  with  the  results  of  these  experiments  that  they  are  making 
preparation  for  additional  extensions  aggregating  many  miles.  During 
the  year  1001.  sample  object-lesson  roads  were  built  on  a  larger  scale  in 
co-operation  with  the  Illinois  Central,  Lake  Shore  and  Southern  Railroad 
Companies,  and  the  National  Association  for  Good  Roads  in  the  States 
of  Louisiana.  Mississippi,  Tennessee.  Kentucky,  Illinois.  New  York,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Alabama  and  Georgia.  In  all  of  these  cases 
the  co-operation  has  been  very  hearty  on  the  part  of  the  state,  the  county 
and  the  municipality  in  which  the  work  has  been  done,  and  the  results 
have  been  verv  satisfactory  and  beneficial." 


At  Good  Roads  Exposition.  Greenville.    Speech  of  Hon.  W.  L.  Dickinson, 

President  of  Connecticut  Valley  Highway  Association, 

Springfield,  Massachusetts. 

MASSACH  TSKTTS  TO  MICHIGAN  ON  A  THROUGH  ROAD. 

We  very  much  desire  to  come  to  Michigan  on  a  through  road,  and  to 
us  ir  seems  an  easy  mailer  to  build  such  a  road,  as  we  have  a  first-class 
road  in  Massachusetts  nearly  completed  across  the  state  from  Boston  to 
our  western  boundary.  The  State  of  New  York  has  met  us  there  and 
oust  met  ed  a  lonj:  section  of  road,  which  undoubtedly  will  be  con- 
tinued across  the  State.  The  Massachusetts  road  has  boon  built  partly 

aid  and  partly  l»y  th<'  cities  and  towns. 

We  can   start  from  Boston  over  improved   city  pavements  and   soon 
come  to  the  broad  boulevards  built  of  crushed  stone  extending  through 


76  STATE     OF     MICHIGAN 

Brookline  and  the  Newtons.  These  boulevards  show  road  construction 
and  maintenance  in  its  highest  form.  They  are  perfectly  built  roads, 
and  by  a  perfect  system  of  maintenance  are  kept  always  in  the  very  best 
possible  condition.  These  boulevards  are  wide  and  in  many  sections 
have  a  parkway  in  the  center  and  a  driveway  on  each  side.  Through 
these  cities  you  will  not  only  find  the  main  arteries  of  travel  in  first- 
class  condition  but  also  the  lateral  roads  leading  to  them  in  fine  order. 
The  citizens  of  these  places  appreciate  the  value  of  good  roads,  and  the 
benefits  derived  therefrom  far  exceed  the  cost. 

We  then  pass  on  through  the  cities  and  towns  west  of  Newton  over 
sections  of  macadam  roads  built  by  State  aid  betwween  cities  and  towns. 
This  State  road  leads  west  through  the  famous  Berkshires,  over  the 
rough  mountainous  sections  of  our  State,  where  the  rocks  were  blasted  to 
make  room  for  the  road,  and  retaining  walls  built.  Extra  provision  was 
made  for  surface  water,  as  during  the  heavy  storms  large  streams  of  water 
flow  down  these  steep  mountain  sides.  In  many  sections  it  was  neces- 
sary to  put  in  an  expensive  system  of  underdrains,  as  without  perfect 
drainage  the  very  best  built  road  would  soon  go  to  pieces. 

It  has  cost  a  large  sum  of  money  to  build  these  roads;  ledges  of  rock 
had  to  be  blasted,  hills  cut  down  and  heavy  fills  made.  However,  it  is 
a  fact  that  this  large  expenditure  of  money  is  not  to  be  compared  with 
the  great  benefits  received. 

It  would  not  cost  as  much  to  build  such  roads  in  Michigan,  as  you 
have  less  rough  and  rugged  land  to  deal  with  than  we  have  in  Massa- 
chusetts. All  you  have  to  do  with  your  soil  is  to  tickle  it  with  a  hoe 
and  make  it  laugh  with  a  harvest,  and  the  saving  made  in  transporting 
that  harvest  over  a  stone  road  would  soon  build  one.  Your  farms  would 
increase  in  value,  you  would  not  require  as  much  motive  power  as  at 
present  to  haul  your  products  to  market,  and  you  could  take  advantage 
of  the  markets  at  all  times,  and  smile  at  King  Mud.  You  would  have  a 
better  acquaintance  with  your  friends  at  a  distance,  as  with  a  good 
stone  road  you  could  drive  over  it  in  all  seasons.  Good  roads  make 
life  in  rural  communities  livable.  They  will  help  make  us  good  citizens 
if  we  will  let  them.  When  you  are  wearily  plodding  through  the  mud 
some  blustering  March  day  you  can  know  that  over  in  some  Eastern 
State  your  friends  are  jogging  along  on  a  hard  smooth  road,  and  I  hope 
you  know  that  in  due  time  that  hard  smooth  road  will  reach  your  part  of 
the  country. 

You  have  another  "Good  Roads"  power  in  your  State  which  we  in 
the  East  are  very  glad  to  borrow  as  often  as  you  will  loan  him  to  us, 
Senator  H.  S.  Earle,  President  of  the  Americn  Road  Makers. 

This  association  has  for  its  object  the  promotion  of  the  general  better- 
ment of  highways  throughout  the  United  States  and  the  special  con- 
struction of  inter-capital  connecting  highways  converging  at  the  Na- 
tional Capital. 

From  the  Massachusetts  boundary  a  continuous  road  could  be  built 
to  Michigan  as  there  is  plenty  of  road  material  available,  which  if  not 
directly  on  the  line  of  the  proposed  road  could  be  cheaply  transported 
by  rail.  It  would  be  best  to  use  crushed  stone  in  the  construction  be- 
tween cities.  The  cities  and  larger  towns  require  something  more  dur- 
able than  ordinary  macadam  and  better  suited  to  heavier  traffic.  Such 
a  road  could  be  built  by  using  Warren's  bituminous  macadam  water- 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  77 

proof  pavement  which  is  being  generally  adopted  in  up-to-date  cities  and 
towns. 

When  we  take  into  consideration  the  large  sums  of  money  that  have 
been  expended  on  the  roads  of  Europe  and  the  immense  value  of  these 
excellent  roads  to  the  countries  that  have  them  it  would  seem  as  if  this 
progressive  country  ought  to  profit  by  their  experience  and  improve  on 
their  system  as  we  excel  in  every  other  thing. 

The  building  of  a  through  road  from  Massachusetts  to  Michigan  is 
simply  a  business  proposition.  What  return  are  we  to  get  for  the  money 
invested?  This  could  be  discussed  on  facts  which  are  on  hand  in  re- 
lation to  the  benefits  derived  from  the  improved  roads  of  Europe.  It 
is  much  better,  however,  to  give  the  experience  of  a  State  in  our  own 
country.  The  State  of  New  Jersey,  the  first  State  in  the  Union  to  give 
State  aid,  has  been  building  roads  since  1891.  That  State  has  secured 
the  best  results  of  any  State  giving  State  aid,  because  they  went  at 
this  work  in  a  businesslike  way  and  have  a  plain  practical  system.  There 
were  549  miles  of  State  road  built  prior  to  January  1,  1902,  at  a  total 
cost  of  12,650,000.  Of  this  amount  the  State  paid  $866,000,the  counties 
paying  the  remainder.  The  increase  of  |27,000,000  in  the  value  of  tax- 
able property  in  New  Jersey  is  attributed  in  a  large  measure  to  the 
excellent  roads.  The  cost  of  these  roads  has  not  been  a  burden.  The 
benefits  derived  are  found  in  the  greatly  increased  valuation  of  prop- 
erty, a  large  increase  in  population  of  a  desirable  class  and  in  all  lines 
of  trade.  The  farmers  find  a  great  advantage  in  the  easier  passage  of 
their  products  to  market  and  a  large  saving  in  the  wear  and  tear  of  their 
horses  and  vehicles.  Over  a  continuous  good  road  heavy  loads  are 
hauled  with  a  less  number  of  horses  than  were  formerly  required  for 
a  small  load  on  a  poor  road.  The  attendance  of  the  schools  and  churches 
noticeably  enlarged  and  free  rural  postal  delivery  made  possible  re- 
sult from  having  good  roads. 

In  1893  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  passed  an  act  to  provide  for 
an  appointment  of  a  highway  commission  to  improve  the  public  roads. 
The  first  appropriation  for  State  aid  was  made  in  1894,  and  some  over 
$4,000,000  has  been  expended  to  improve  the  roads  of  this  State.  The 
cost  of  the  roads  is  divided  as  follows:  The  State  pays  %  and  the 
county  14. 

The  cost  of  these  roads  has  varied  from  $2,500  to  $15,000  per  mile, 
according  to  the  conditions  which  were  met. 

The  standard  width  of  broken  stone  roadway  as  built  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Commission  is  15  feet  and  each  side  of  this  a  width  of  3  feet 
is  shaped  to  the  same  cross-section  as  the  broken  stone.  These  side 
strips  or  shoulders  are  covered  with  gravel  on  much  traveled  highways 
only,  on  all  others  the  natural  soil  is  used. 

The  rock  used  for  the  stone  roads  has  come  from  quarries,  banks, 
fields  and  river  beds.  There  is  great  variation  in  the  quality  of  rock 
used.  In  the  selection  of  road-building  rock,  traffic  and  cost  are  care- 
fully studied,  and  the  cost  of  maintenance,  as  well  as  construction,  is 
taken  into  account.  Trap  rock  is  unquestionably  the  most  economical 
material  for  the  surface  of  roads  of  heavy  traffic.  All  Massachusetts 
State  roads  are  compacted  by  the  use  of  steam  rollers,  both  during 
construction  and  permanent  repairs. 

All  broken  stone  used  is  separated  into  three  sizes  by  passing  it 
through  a  screen  with  meshes  1^,  inch,  li/,  inches  and  2To  inches  in  di- 


78  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

ameter.  The  thickness  of  stone  on  these  roads  varies  from  4  inches  to 
16  inches — the  four-inch  covering  being  placed  over  good  gravel  or  sand, 
the  greater  amount  over  heavy  clay  and  varying  thicknesses  on  other 
soils. 

Where  the  travel  is  light,  gravel  roads  have  been  constructed  and 
good  results  have  been  obtained.  On  the  sandy  shores  of  Cap  Cod, 
where  it  would  have  been  very  expensive  to  haul  broken  stone,  a  good 
road  was  built  with  sand,  clay  and  some  broken  stone  mixed,  which 
under  the  conditions,  very  light  traffic  and  perfect  drainage,  have  proved 
very  satisfactory.  Large  sums  of  money  have  been  expended  where 
necessary  for  underdrains. 

As  a  result  of  these  good  roads  built  by  the  State,  the  cities  and 
towns  have  generally  taken  up  this  question  of  better  roads  and  have 
made  a  great  improvement  in  their  systems,  as  they  were  quick  to  re- 
alize the  value  of  good  roads. 

Although  the  Massachusetts  system  is  complicated  and  expensive 
the  good  roads  have  proved  of  great  value  to  the  people. 

In  Massachusetts  the  Commission  endeavors  to  improve  the  main 
arteries  of  travel  between  the  important  centers  of  trade. 

The  original  State  aid  act  was  amended  by  the  Legislature  in  1900, 
which  passed  the  "Small  TowTn"  act  authorizing  the  Commission  to  ex- 
pend 5  per  cent  of  the  annual  appropriation  for  constructing  and  re- 
pairing highways  in  towns  in  which  no  State  highway  has  been  built. 
This  was  a  move  in  the  right  direction  and  has  proved  to  be  very  popular. 

In  all  States  that  have  given  State  aid  for  roads  the  farmers  at  first 
opposed  it,  but  at  the  present  time  they  are  loudest  in  their  demands 
for  improvement  of  the  roads,  as  they  appreciate  that  they  are  really 
benefitted  the  most  because  they  are  continually  using  the  roads  in 
hauling  their  products  to  market,  which  they  can  do  at  all  seasons  of 
,the  year  over  a  good  road.  The  saving  made  to  farmers  in  States  where 
they  have  good  roads  is  enormous.  The  greater  portion  of  the  cost  of 
State  aid,  of  course,  has  been  borne  by  the  cities  on  account  of  the 
greater  valuation. 

The  problem  of  good  roads  in  Michigan  is  not  a  difficult  one,  as  this 
is  a  very  prosperous  and  progressive  State.  There  is  plenty  of  good 
road  material  within  your  borders,  and  I  believe  your  citizens  appre- 
ciate the  value  of  good  roads. 

W.  L.  DICKINSON, 

President  Connecticut  Valley  Highway  Association,  Treasurer 
Massachusetts  Highway  Association,  Treasurer  American 
Koad  Makers,  Treasurer  New  York  and  Chicago  Eoad  As- 
sociation, Member  of  Advisory  Board,  Highway  Alliance  of 
New  York. 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  "9 


Speech  of  W.  A.  Cook  of  Frankfort,  X.  Y. 
FREE  ROAD  MATERIAL  BY  USE  OF  CONVICT  LABOR. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

One  of  the  most  difficult  problems  which  has  confronted  the  states- 
men of  all  nations  and  all  ages  has  been  the  disposition  of  the  time  of 
that  unfortunate  class  of  beings  who  have  been  convicted  of  crime 
and  sentenced  to  a  penal  institution  of  some  nature. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  civilization  it  has  been  the  almost  universal 
method  to  dispose  of  the  labor  of  convicts  to  contractors  who  are  al- 
lowed to  work  and  use  them  for  their  own  personal  gain.  As  civiliza- 
tion advances,  or  as  the  population  becomes  more  dense,  so  that  the 
competition  between  the  convict's  labor  and  that  of  the  free  man  is 
more  keenly  felt,  this  system  has  given  way,  either  to  the  total  idleness 
of  the  convicts,  or  else  to  his  employment  by  the  municipal  division 
under  whose  control  he  is. 

Idleness  for  convicts  of  any  grade  should  not  for  one  moment  be 
allowed.  This  unfortunate  class  should  not  only  receive  the  same  care- 
ful consideration  at  our  hands  as  any  other  class  in  our  community, 
but  are  entitled  to  especial  attention  in  order  that  they  may  be  cured 
of  their  malady  and  made  useful  members  of  society. 

When  we  remember  that  crime  is  a  disease,  and  in  many  cases  heredi- 
tary, we  see  how  important  to  society  is  the  proper  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem. Experience  shows  that  idleness  and  confinement  are  not  a  remedy. 
Idleness  impairs  the  physical  strength  and  weakens  the  mental  powers, 
even  (in  many  cases)  to  the  point  of  insanity.  How  then  shall  our  con- 
victs be  employed?  Shall  they  make  boots  and  shoes?  No.  We  have 
enough  free  boots  and  shoe  makers  who  ought  not  to  be  compelled  to 
place  their  labor  in  competition  with  that  of  convicts. 

Shall  stoves,  furniture,  or  any  other  article  of  commerce  be  made 
with  their  labor,  when  it  will  come  in  competition  with  that  of  free  men? 
By  no  means.  Reserve  for  our  free  mechanics  all  the  gainful  occupa- 
tions, and  let  our  convicts  build  such  of  our  roads  as  would  otherwise 
be  neglected;  or,  provide  the  material  for  their  construction. 

As  a  practical  matter,  we  must  divide  our  convicts  into  two  classes. 
First,  those  convicted  of  minor  offenses,  and  who  are  usually  confined 
in  jails  or  penitentiaries,  and,  secondly,  the  more  desperate  class, 
who  are  usually  found  in  State  prisons.  Of  course,  the  place  of  con- 
finement does  not  of  necessity  fix  the  grade  of  the  criminal,  but  may  be 
safely  taken  as  a  starting  point,  and  for  the  purpose  of  illustration. 

The  first  class  may  be  used  to  good  advantage  upon  the  actual  road 
constructed;  such  as  the  grading,  levelling  of  stone,  digging  of  ditches, 
etc.  Oneida  county,  New  York,  began  this  system  some  four  years  since, 
and  is  still  using  all  of  those  sentenced  to  jail  in  actual  road  work. 
Portable  houses  are  set  up  along  the  highway  which  is  being  built, 
and  here  the  men  are  housed  and  fed.  Two  of  the  convicts  are  de- 
tailed as  cooks,  and  with  them  is  one  guard,  who  also  acts  as  house- 
keeper. The  men  are  marched  to  their  labor  in  the  morning,  being 


80  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

divided  into  gangs  of  eight,  each  gang  having  a  guard,  who  is  responsible 
for  the  care  of  the  men  under  his  charge,  and  who  also  acts  as  foreman 
of  the  work. 

At  the  present  time  Oneida  county  has  sixty  men  thus  employed. 
One  foreman  has  general  charge  of  the  work  being  done. 

The  men  are  not  dressed  in  uniform,  and  a  stranger  would  hardly 
know  which  were  guards  and  which  prisoners.  They  work  well  and  will 
accomplish  almost  as  much  as  the  free  labor  employed  in  the  vicinity. 
It  is  rarely  ever  that  one  tries  to  escape.  When  such  an  attempt  is 
made  the  offender  is  afterwards  compelled  to  wear  a  ball  and  chain. 

Not  only  does  the  country  secure  their  labor  at  a  cost  of  less  than 
40  cents  per  day  per  man  but  the  number  of  convicts  is  reduced  and  a 
very  substantial  benefit  is  reaped.  The  "drunk,"  who  is  sent  up  for  ten 
days,  has  the  whisky  worked  out  of  him,  his  muscles  hardened  by  the 
use  of  the  pick  and  shovel,  his  whole  system  toned  up  by  the  pure  air, 
and  good,  plain,  substantial  food,  on  which  he  is  fed. 

The  tramp  leaves  the  county  never  to  return,  and  warns  all  his  fellow 
travellers  to  give  such  a  locality  a  wide  birth. 

In  Oneida  county  the  saving  by  the  reduction  of  the  sheriff's  and 
penitentiary  bills  will  amount  to  not  less  than  $5,000  per  year. 

The  direct  benefits  are  more  easily  seen  by  the  comparison  of  two 
pieces  of  road  built  in  the  town  of  Whitesboro,  the  same  year,  under 
the  same  specifications,  and  practically  equal  conditions.  The  following 
table  will  show  at  a  glance  the  saving: 

Road  built  by  prisoners:  12,963  spuare  yds.;  cost  per  square  yd., 
45  1-3  cents.  Total,  $5,873.35. 

Road  built  by  contract:  12,516  square  yds.;  cost  per  yd.,  75  5-6 
cents.  Total,  $9,500,  a  saving  of  SO1/^  cents  per  square  yard;  or,  on  the 
road  built  by  the  convicts,  a  total  of  $3,953.72. 

The  cost  of  the  prison  built  road  was  divided  as  follows: 

2,812  yds.  lime  stone,  $1  per  yd $2,812  00 

598  yds.  trap  rock,  $1.70  per  yd 1,016  60 

Guards 658  75 

Engineer  of  roller 205  00 

Coal  for  roller 23  00 

Water  for  sprinklers  and  roller 100  00 

Teams   800  00 

Mason  work,  the  plow,  etc 90  00 

Supernitendence  168  00 


Total    $5,873  35 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  allowance  is  made  for  the  board  of  the  prison- 
ers, for  the  reason  that  the  county  must  pay  their  board  whether  em- 
ployed or  idle.  Convicts  of  the  second  class  can  be  very  advantageously 
employed  inside  stockades  in  the  quarrying  and  crushing  of  the  rock 
necessary  for  macadamized  road  building.  Both  Erie  county  and  On- 
ondaga  county,  N.  Y.,  are  at  present  so  working  a  portion  of  the  con- 
victs in  their  penitentiaries  in  a  most  successful  manner. 

The  Erie  county  work  is  a  good  specimen  of  what  may  be  accom- 
plished in  this  line.  An  excellent  limestone  quarry  on  the  Almshouse 
farm  is  being  utilized,  and  a  rock  crusher,  with  elevator,  screen  and 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE.     1901-1902.  81 

storage  bins  have  been  erected.  The  bins  are  so  constructed  that  the 
crushed  stone  may  be  loaded  either  into  wagons  or  railroad  cars.  An 
engineer  is  hired,  a  quarry  foreman  and  three  guards.  About  two  hun- 
dred yards  of  broken  rock  is  produced  per  day,  which  thus  far  has  been 
sold  at  about  65  cents  per  cubic  yard.  While  the  official  figures  are  not 
at  hand,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  plant  will  earn  the  county  not  less 
than  $70  per  day.  Nor  are  these  counties  mentioned  the  only  ones 
which  have  availed  themselves  of  the  benefits  of  convict  labor  in  road 
building. 

Jefferson  and  Broome  counties  in  New  York,  and  many  of  the  counties 
in  the  South,  especially  Mecklenburgh  county,  North  Carolina,  have 
successfully  tried  the  experiment.  Why  cannot  Michigan  adopt  a  sim- 
ilar policy  with  benefit  to  all  her  people?  You  have  the  roads  which 
need  to  be  built,  you  have  the  convicts  to  furnish  the  labor  for  supplying 
the  stone,  and  all  that  is  needed  is  that  you  secure  a  suitable  equip- 
ment of  machinery  and  start  the  work.  One  great  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  a  central  crushing  plant  has  been  removed  by  the  very  liberal 
treatment  which  has  been  accorded  the  "good  roads"  movement  by  the 
railroads.  The  live  railroad  manager,  realizing  that  every  good  road  is 
a  feeder  to  his  line,  either  transports  material  for  construction  free,  or 
at  a  charge  just  high  enough  to  cover  the  actual  cost  of  transportation. 

Try  the  experiment.  That  you  will  find  it  successful  we,  who  have 
seen  the  success  of  similar  experiments  in  New  York  State  and  elsewhere 
can  not  doubt,  and  we  wish  you  a  hearty  uGod  speed  in  your  under- 
taking." 


BETTER  ROADS!     WHY?     HOW?     WHEN  AND  WHERE? 

Speech  of  Horatio  S.  Earle,  Chairman  of  Michigan  Highway  Committee 

at  Michigan  Good  Roads  Exposition,  held  at  Greenville, 

Michigan,  July  20,  30  and  31,  1902. 

Why  are  better  roads  wanted  and  why  are  better  roads  beneficial 
to  the  owners  of  farms,  of  mines,  of  manufacturing  establishments  or 
other  producers  of  material  to  be  transported? 

That  as  much  as  possible  of  the  cost  of  transportation  may  be 
eliminated.  The  cost  of  transportation  does  not  enhance  the  value 
of  any  kind  of  a  product.  There  is  a  market  somewhere  for  every 
kind  of  product,  where  the  price  is  set,  like  Elgin  and  St.  Albans  for 
butter  and  what  the  producer  of  a  product  gets  for  his  product  is  the 
price  set  at  this  natural  market,  less  the  cost  of  transportation  from 
the  producing  point  to  the  market  setting  point. 

A  bushel  of  wheat  has  a  certain  value  in  New  York  City  and  what  the 
farmer  gets  for  that  bushel  of  wheat  in  Michigan,  is  what  it  is  worth 
in  New  York  City  less  the  cost  of  transportation  from  the  wheat 
field  in  Michigan  to  New  York  City,  then  it  is  to  his  interest  to  eliminate 
as  much  as  possible  from  the  cost  of  transportation,  no  matter  where  that 
cost  originates;  whether  on  water,  on  the  railroad,  on  the  highway  or 
in  the  cutting  and  binding  or  threshing  of  that  wheat,  so  that  he  may 
.Lr«-r  as  much  as  possible  for  his  wheat,  and  this  same  reasoning  applies 
to  any  kind  of  a  product. 
11 


82  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

So  the  farm  owners,  the  mine  owners  and  the  owners  of  factories 
in  Michigan  are  or  ought  to  be  interested  in  anything  that  will  have 
a  tendency  to  eliminate  any  portion  of  the  cost  of  production,  and  the 
cost  of  transportation  of  a  product  to  its  natural  market  is  a  part  of  the 
cost  of  production  as  much  as  is  the  wages  paid  to  the  laborer,  and  if 
the  producers  were  as  economical  with  King  Mud  as  they  are  with 
King  Labor  we  would  have  better  roads  and  much  of  the  cost  of 
transportation  would  be  eliminated,  and  a  portion  of  this  saving  might 
well  be  handed  to  King  Labor  who  differs  materially  from  King  Mud, 
for  Labor  is  a  citizen,  a  taxpayer  and  a  consumer,  while  King  Mud 
consumes  nothing  and  produces  nothing,  but  rather  reduces  the  prices 
that  we  get  for  our  products  and  reduces  thereby  the  prosperity  of  the 
country.  ' 

Want-to-be-renowned  reformers  have  endeavored  to  stir  up  an  enmity 
between  the  producers  and  the  carriers  of  the  country,  and  yet  it  is  a 
fact,  that  the  carriers  are  transporting  wheat  from  Nebraska  to  Liver- 
pool for  less  money  per  bushel  than  it  costs  a  farmer  to  haul  it  over  a 
common  dirt  road  ten  miles  to  market. 

I  am  not  posing  as  a  defender  of  railroad  companies  in  any  unjust 
charges  or  at  all,  for  I  am  not  financially  interested  in  any,  and  fur- 
ther, they  don't  need  my  help,  for  they  have  plenty  of  able  men  to  do 
that  thing,  but,  I  do  believe  that  it  is  well  to  appreciate  what  they 
have  done  and  to  tax  them  in  a  spirit  of  equity  rather  than  in  one  of 
enmity;  and  to  insist  that  they  shall  carry  our  products  as  cheaply  as 
possible  and  at  the  same  time  give  a  proper  return  on  the  capital 
invested,  but,  don't  let  us  overlook  the  fact,  that  there  is  a  greater  pos- 
sibility of  eliminating  excessive  cost  of  transportation  before  the  product 
to  be  transported  gets  to  the  railroad  than  after. 

The  reason  that  a  threshing  machine  is  used  to  separate  the  grain 
from  the  straw  is,  for  the  purpose  of  elimination.  That  is,  it  is  cheaper 
to  thresh  this  way  than  it  is  to  thresh  with  a  flail  or  the  old  beast 
stamping  process,  so  a  portion  of  the  cost  of  threshing  with  a  flail  is 
eliminated  and  remains  in  the  grain  producers  hands  to  invest  or 
spend  for  other  purposes. 

The  reason  that  a  binder  is  employed  to  cut  the  grain  is,  that  with 
the  binder,  the  grain  can  be  cut  cheaper  and  better  than  it  can  with  a 
cradle,  then  by  using  the  binder,  a  portion  of  the  cost  of  cutting  the 
grain  with  a  cradle  is  eliminated. 

There  is  no  sentimental  reason  for  wishing  to  eliminate  a  portion 
of  the  cost  of  transportation,  of  threshing,  or  of  cutting  and  binding 
grain;  it  is  simply  and  purely  avariciousness,  a  very  commendable 
attribute  in  man  if  only  coupled  with  sufficient  golden  rule  inclination 
to  keep  the  man  a  man,  instead  of  letting  him  develop  into  that  less 
philanthropic^!  being,  known  as  the  hog. 

If  it  costs  two  dollars  to  draw  one  ton  to  market  over  a  bad  road, 
and  only  two  dollars  to  draw  two  tons  over  that  same  road  when  that 
road  has  been  made  better,  then  the  better  road  is  the  machine  to 
obtain  and  use  that  a  portion  of  the  cost  of  transportation  may  be 
eliminated,  provided,  that  the  machine,  the  better  road  and  its  repairs 
does  not  cost  more  than  can  be  eliminated  by  its  use  of  the  cost  of 
transportation. 

If  two  dollars  per  ton  is  a  fair  average  of  what  is  saved  by  the  use  of 
a  good  road  over  the  use  of  a  bad  road,  it  is  only  necessary  to  find  out 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     HKjl  -im.j.  83 

how  many  tons  is  haul<Ml  over  any  road  a  year  to  know  whether  that 
road  ran  IM-  improved  to  a  prolit  or  not.  To  explain,  if  a  given 
road  will  cost  ten  thousand  dollars  to  build,  there  must  be  a  travel 
of  at  least  one  thousand  loads  a  year  over  that  road  at  a  saving  of  two 
dollars  a  load. 

Of  course  it  does  not  cost  two  dollars  to  haul  one  ton  one  mile,  but 
the  average  distance  that  farm  product  is  hauled  is  seven  miles,  and 
a  farmer  will  not  go  to  town  twrice  in  one  day,  seven  miles  away  over 
a  bad  road,  and  going  to  town  will  about  use  up  the  day,  so  that  it  has 
cost  to  haul  one  ton  to  market  whatever  one  man  and  one  team  for 
one  day  is  worth  or  about  two  and  one-half  dollars.  If  the  road  was 
a  first-class  macadam  road  three  tons  or  more  at  a  load  would  be  hauled 
and  two  trips  would  be  made,  thus  delivering  at  the  station  or  market 
live  tons  or  more  a  day  than  could  be  hauled  with  a  bad  road,  saving 
twelve  dollars  and  a  half,  a  portion  of  which  the  producer  can  well 
afford  to  pay  for  the  machine  that  helps  to  eliminate  it. 

But  you  say,  you  haven't  the  money  to  purchase  the  road,  so  the  prob- 
lem which  follows,  why  should  we  have  better  roads,  is,  how  can  we 
without  the  money,  get  better  roads. 

One  way  we  might,  would  be  to,  in  the  land  set  apart  for  highways 
plant  corn,  get  the  people  living  along  such  highway  to  donate  their 
labor  in  planting,  cultivating  and  harvesting  this  corn  each  year,  and 
sell  it,  and  put  the  proceeds  into  a  fund,  and  when  sufficiently  large  take 
it  to  pay  for  the  building  of  a  good  road.  Of  course  it  would  take  a 
long  time  to  get  a  good  road  in  this  way,  and  no  part  of  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation would  be  eliminated  during  the  time  that  the  fund  was  being 
raised  to  build  the  road,  and  you  would  have  to  contend  with  the  same 
or  worse  troubles  than  you  now  have  to  with  your  statute  labor;  it 
would  be  hard  to  get  it  out  and  harder  to  make  it  work  when  you  had 
it  out. 

An  easier  way  would  be  to  plant  trees,  and  when  these  are  large 
enough  to  cut  for  timber,  cut  them  and  sell  them  and  with  the  proceeds 
build  the  good  road,  but,  you  would  not  in  all  the  time  that  the  trees 
were  growing  eliminate  any  of  the  excessive  cost  of  transportation  and 
very  few  if  any  would  live  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  the  trees, — the  good  road. 

A  better  way  than  either  of  the  former  two,  would  be,  to  invite  the 
multi-millionaire  to  endow  roads  and  build  them  at  once  naming  them 
after  these  philanthropies!  gentlemen  who  must  know  that  Alexander 
built  a  library  and  that  Caesar  destroyed  it,  but  that  they  both  built  roads, 
and  that  the  roads  stay  built,  and  that  there  is  no  way  that  they  can  per- 
petuate their  names  and  do  so  much  good  as  along  this  line,  but,  you  will 
wait  a  long  time  before  you  get  any  good  roads  built  this  way,  for  they 
don't  remember  that  you  built  their  roads  for  them. 

Then,  how  are  we  to  get  the  good  roads?  Let  us  take  a  lesson  from 
the  ravens  who  had  no  confidence  that  anybody  would  do  anything  that 
should  disturb  their  abode  until  they  heard  the  farmer  say  to  his  sons. 
"we  will  cut  this  <jrain  ourselves"  then  the  ravens  said,  "we  have  got  to 
move." 

Let  us  say.  that  we  wrill  build  "better  roads"  ourselves,  and  theu,  and 
only  then  will  King  Mud  and  King  Sand  move. 

Did  you  Mr.  Farmer  buy  your  binder  with  cash,  or  did  you  pay  a 
small  payment  down  and  for  the  balance  give  notes  payable  in  one, 


84  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

two  and  three  years?  I  believe  that  this  is  the  way  that  ninety  per  cent 
of  the  binders  are  bought,  and  it  is  the  way  to  buy  if  you  don't  happen 
to  have  the  cash  to  buy  with,  and  it  is  the  only  way  that  you  can  elim- 
inate the  excessive  cost  of  cutting  grain  with  a  cradle  and  binding  it 
by  hand  if  you  do  not  have  the  cash.  By  running  in  debt  for  the 
binder  you  are  able  to  eliminate  enough  from  the  cost  of  cutting  your 
grain  with  a  cradle  and  binding  it  by  hand  to  pay  the  notes  that"  you 
used  to  buy  the  binder  with. 

This  is  the  way  to  buy  a  better  road,  you  cannot  save  the  excessive 
cost  of  transportation  over  a  bad  road  more  than  it  costs  over  a  good 
road  until  you  have  the  good  road  to  save  it  for  you,  than  you  can 
save  and  what  you  save  or  some  portion  of  it,  you  can  pay  toward 
the  retiring  of  the  short  term  bonds  that  you  bought  the  roads  with, 
the  same  as  you  did  to  retire  the  notes  that  you  gave  for  the  binder, 
and  there  is  no  more  reason  to  be  afraid  of  a  bond  than  there  is  to  be 
afraid  of  a  note,  neither  can  be  afforded  for  luxuries  but  either  can  be 
afforded  for  machines  that  will  save  more  than  the.y  cost,  and  it  is  only 
the  timid  and  foolish  that  will  continue  to  cut  their  grain  with  a 
cradle  or  haul  their  grain  through  mud  to  market  if  there  is  enough  to 
cut  or  to  haul  to  pay  to  get  the  machines  to  cut  or  haul  it  with. 

Don't  think  though,  that  the  only  property  benefited  is  that  abutting 
the  road,  if  you  have  benefited  any  part  of  Michigan,  you  have  benefited 
Michigan,  then  let  each  and  every  dollar's  worth  of  property  in  Michigan 
pay  something  toward  the  inter-town  roads  which  are  permanently  built. 

A  through  road  is  a  local  road  into  and  out  of  on  each  side  of  every 
town  that  it  is  a  through  road  to,  then  a  through  road  is  a  through  road 
to  every  town  that  it  passes  through  and  four  local  roads  to  that  same 
town.  Then  all  towns  on  through  roads  can  afford  to  pay  something 
for  the  whole  road  and  something  more  for  each  of  the  local  roads  that 
run  in  and  out  of  the  individual  town. 

1  know  of  no  seed  that  can  be  planted,  and  from  which  a  village  or 
city  will  grow,  neither  do  I  suppose  that  the  mound  builders  had  any 
seed  to  plant  and  from  which  the  mounds  grew. 

It  may  be  possible  that  the  mounds  grew  from  the  scuffings  of  mud 
off  the  feet  of  the  good  road  advocates  in  annual  good  road  conventions 
held  in  those  early  days. 

Villages  and  cities  get  part  of  their  growth  from  scuffiings,  not  the 
mud  from  off  the  farmers  feet  but  the  scuffings  of  profit  from  off  his 
wheat,  his  corn,  his  sugar  beets  and  other  crops  and  to  this  is  added 
the  profits  on  the  goods  that  is  sold  to  him,  and  to  this  the  profits 
realized  from  the  manufacturing  industries,  mines,  etc. 

Are  you  going  to  tax  this  village  or  city  that  has  accumulated  from 
scufifings  situated  at  one  end  of  the  road,  while  your  wheat  field  is  at 
the  other,  to  help  to  build  and  keep  in  repair  this  road,  or  are  you  going 
to  keep  on  doing  what  you  have  been  doing  in  Michigan  paying  the 
whole  bill  yourselves  and  allowing  all  to  enjoy  the  benefits  alike. 

In  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Michigan,  there  is  a  prohibition 
clause  against  any  State  aid  for  highways,  and  so  long  as  that  remains 
there,  it  will  be  impossible  to  get  any  help  from  the  great  cities  of  the 
State  toward  making  them  better. 

This  clause  was  put  there  by  the  farmers,  it  is  kept  there  by  the  farm- 
ers. In  the  senate  of  the  last  session  of  the  legislature  there  was  not 
a  dissenting  voice  against  submitting  to  the  voters  of  the  State  the 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTE,     1901-H«i±  85 

privilege  of  changing  That  clause,  but  in  the  house  there  were  ti fly- 
one  representatives  of  the  farmer  that  voted  no,  and  by  that  vote,  they 
practically  said,  we  wish  to  pay  the  whole  bill  ourselves,  the  same  as  we 
have  been  doing. 

I  told  the  President  of  the  Farmer's  Club,  that  their  actions  reminded 
me  of  a  story  That  was  told  of  a  certain  school  district,  and  I  told  him 
the  story  and  I  will  tell  it  to  you. 

In  school  district  13  there  were  thirteen  boys,  tive  were  the  sons  of 
Mr.  Farmer,  five  were  the  sons  of  Mr.  City  and  three  were  the  sons  of 
Mr.  Corporation. 

They   schooled   together,   played   together   and    fought   each   other 
school  boys  do,  but  finally  they  quit  school  and  at  their  life's  work  went. 

The  sons  of  Farmer  went  to  farming,  the  sons  of  City  into  the  profes- 
sional and  mercantile  business,  and  the  sons  of  Corporation  into  manu- 
facturing, railroading  and  mining. 

At  the  age  of  fifty  they  all  happened  to  meet,  each  was  anxious  to 
know  how  each  other  one  had  got  on  in  the  world,  so  that  it  practically 
turned  into  an  experience  social,  and  it  was  found,  that  the  sons  of 
Farmer  were  comfortably  well  off.  that  the  sons  of  City  were  rich,  and 
that  the  sons  of  Corporation  were  rolling  in  wealth. 

Owing  to  such  good  fortune,  it  was  decided  to  celebrate  and  to  have 
a  great  banquet,  a  regular  Belshazzar  feast  too  and  to  cost  a  thousand 
dollars  a  plate. 

Then  one  of  the  sons  of  Mr.  Corporation  takes  out  his  pocketbook 
to  pay  his  thousand  dollars,  when  up  goes  all  the  hands  of  all  the  sons 
of  Mr.  Farmer  in  holy  horror,  who  all  declared,  that  they  would  not 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  feast  unless  they  should  be  permitted  to 
pay  the  whole  bill.  The  sons  of  City  and  Corporation  remonstrated 
with  them  but  all  to  no  avail.  They  called  their  attention  to  the  fact 
that  they  were  the  richest  of  the  lot  and  could  best  afford  to  pay,  and 
further,  that  they  would  enjoy  the  feast  much  better  if  permitted  to 
pay  their  share,  and  as  the  feast  was  for  all,  all  ought  to  be  permitted 
to  "share  in  the  expense,  that  it  might  be  a  feast  of  all  by  all  and  for  all, 
rather  than  one  of  a  few  by  a  few  for  the  whole. 

However  the  sons  of  Farmer  were  too  stubborn  for  the  others  and 
the  five  who  were  the  least  able  to  pay,  paid  the  whole  bill  and  all 
attended  and  ate  and  drank  alike. 

This  illustrates  the  exact  status  of  affairs  in  the  State  of  Michigan  to- 
day. ."}-!:{  of  the  assessed  valuation  is  farm  property.  ."j-i:5  is  municipal 
property  and  3-13  is  corporation  property. 

Roads  are  for  everybody  and  everybody  has  an  equal  right  to  use  them 
for  business  or  pleasure,  but  they  are  built  and  kept  in  repair  by  the 
five  sons  of  Mr.  Farmer,  the  same  fellows  that  insisted  on  paying  the 
whole  bill  at  the  banquet. 

cities  and  corporations  would  vote  to-morrow  overwhelmingly  to 
grant  State  aid  for  permanently  built  inter-town  roads,  but  the  sons  of 
Mr.  Farmer  to  the  number  of  fifty-one  in  the 'last  legislature  said  by  their 
we  tive  will  build  and  repair  the  roads  and  we  will  not  irive  you 
city  chaps  a  chance  to  help  one  dollar's  worth,  but  you  can  ride  on  the 
roads  and  set  down  at  the  feast  and  we  will  pay  the  bill. 

1  have  spoken  to  several  audiences  composed  of  farmers  since  that 
vote  was  taken  and  every  one  so  far  lias  said  that  they  were  in  favor  of 
Stare  aid  for  highways,  and  I  have  resolutions  favoring  this  plan,  that 


86  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

have  been  passed  and  sent  to  me  by  some  of  the  leading  granges  and 
farmer  clubs  in  the  State. 

I  recommend,  that  the  next  legislature  give  to  the  voters  of  Michigan 
the  privilege  to  say  at  the  polls  whether  they  want  to  change  the  con- 
stitution so  as  to  permit  of  State  aid  or  not  for  permanent  inter-town 
highways ;  and  should  they  vote  to  allow  state  aid,  I  would  advise  adopt- 
ing a  similar  system  to  the  Connecticut  plan,  which  is,  the  awarding  re- 
wards to  townships  that  build  inter-town  highways  according  to  the 
specifications  adopted  by  the  State. 

I  would  like  to  see  the  legislature  that  should  convene  next  after 
such  vote  has  been  given,  make  an  appropriation  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars,  to  be  divided  into  fifty  rewards,  to  be  given  to  the  first  fifty  town- 
ships which  should  complete  an  inter-town  mile  of  permanent  road  built 
after  the  specifications  furnished  by  a  State  engineer,  when  accepted 
by  him. 

First  however,  I  recommend,  that  the  next  legislature  establish  the 
office  of  State  engineer,  he  to  have  a  fair  salary  and  expenses,  he  to  hold 
schools  of  instruction,  teaching  how  to  build  and  repair  all  kinds  of 
roads,  and  to  hold  one  of  these  schools  in  each  county  of  the  state  each 
year,  at  which  all  highway  commissioners  and  pathmasters  in  each 
county  should  attend  and  be  paid  for  their  attendance  the  same  as 
they  would  be  if  working  on  the  road  and  the  cost  to  them  to  get  to 
the  county  seat  or  where  the  engineer  should  hold  such  school. 

I  would  recommend  that  every  highway  commissioner  be  obliged  to 
make  a  report  to  such  State  engineer  every  year,  what  the  condition  of 
the  roads  in  his  township  is,  how  much  money  and  statute  labor  has 
been  expended  during  the  year,  so  that  it  may  be  possible  to  know  just 
how  many  miles  of  public  highways  there  is  in  the  State,  just  what 
amount  of  money  is  expended  in  building  and  repairing  and  many  other 
things  important  to  know. 

This  would  practically  form  a  road  inquiry  office  in  the  State,  and  the 
State  engineer  would  be  able  to  convey  the  information  obtained  that 
was  good  from  any  one  county  to  all  other  counties,  he  would  be  able  to 
tell  any  township  official  where  the  best  gravel  and  stone  was  situated,  and 
what  it  would  cost  them  to  obtain  it,  he  would  be  able  to  advise  them 
about  what  it  would  cost  to  build  and  repair  both  roads  and  bridges,  he 
would  be  subject  to  call  from  any  township  that  needed  him,  and  be 
paid  by  the  State,  I  ask  every  voter  of  Michigan  to  carefully  consider 
this  plan,  and  if  he  favors  it,  write  me  and  tell  me  so,  so  that  I  may  be 
able  to  show  the  next  legislature  that  it  is  desired  by  the  people. 

The  Highway  Commission  established  by  the  last  legislature,  and 
which  was  appointed  by  Governor  Bliss,  saw  fit  to  elect  me  its  president. 
The  legislature  gave  us  great  privileges, —  first,  of  doing  all  the  work 
we  could  find  to  do  and  make  all  the  inquiries  we  possibly  could  as  to 
what  the  people  wanted,  but,  'second,  and  the  much  greater  privilege 
and  honor  of  doing  this  work  free  gratis  and  in  addition  pay  our  own 
expenses.  I  must  tell  you,  that  the  work  has  assumed  such  proportions 
as  to  take  more  than  half  of  my  time,  and,  I  must  confess,  to  the  harm 
of  my  business,  and  I  must  not  continue  the  work  longer  than  this  year, 
so  either  you  must  establish  a  State  engineer,  or  else  the  work  which 
I  believe  has  boon  of  great  importance  must  come  to  an  end. 

I  want  it  understood,  however,  that  I  am  not  seeking  the  position 
and  would  not,  under  any  consideration  whatever,  fake  it;  but  I  will 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  87 

gladly  give  considerable  of  my  time  to  the  work  of  assisting  the  state 
engineer,  but  cannot  carry  the  whole  thing  on  my  shoulders  longer  than 
this  year. 

As  it  has  been  stated  in  some  papers  in  Michigan  that  I  am  connected 
with  good  roads  machinery  companies,  and  so  was  able  to  recoup  my 
expenses,  etc.,  in  the  good  roads  work,  I  wish  to  state  to  you  that  the 
statements  are  lies,  pure  and  simple,  and  the  papers  that  made  them 
knew  they  were.  The  reason  that  I  am  in  this  work,  is  because  I  think 
that  everyone  ought  to  be  willing  to  do  some  little  good  for  the  privi- 
lege of  enjoying  the  benefits  that  the  State  and  the  country  give  to  him, 
and  I  have  chosen  to  put  all  my  efforts  into  this  one  work  instead  of 
trying  to  do  a  little  at  everything  and  not  amount  to  anything  in  any. 

Where  better  highways?  Everywhere  in  Michigan,  by  the  help  of  the 
instruction  a  State  engineer  wrould  give,  and  good  roads  wherever 
the  amount  of  traffic  is  sufficient  to  permit  of  enough  cost  of  transporta- 
tion to  be  eliminated  to  buy  the  road  and  keep  it  in  repair. 

Then  better  highways  everywhere  and  good  roads  some  places! 

And  when?  When  you  change  your  constitution  and  permit  of  State 
aid,  which  will  allow  all  to  contribute  to  roads  that  all  use;  when  you 
grant  the  reward  system  which  will  give  the  municipalities  and  corpora- 
tions the  privilege  of  paying  eighty  per  cent  of  the  reward;  when  you 
establish  a  State  engineer  and  give  him  the  power  to  call  into  a  school 
of  instruction  in  each  county,  each  year  the  highway  commissioners 
and  pathmasters,  and  teach  them  how  to  build  and  repair,  which  will 
give  you  one  system  instead  of  as  many,  systems  as  there  are  commis- 
sioners and  pathmasters  in  the  State;  when  you  abolish  the  plan  of 
furnishing  State  slaves  to  favored  contractors  by  selling  the  labor  of 
the  convicts  to  compete  with  honest  and  family-supporting  labor  and 
force  these  convicts  to  improve  their  ways  by  crushing  stone  to  be  used 
in  improving  your  (high)  ways,  then  you  will  have  every  highway  com- 
missioner in  the  State  vieing  with  all  others  so  to  be  able  to  send  in  the 
best  report;  then  every  man  in  every  township  will  take  an  interest  to 
have  the  roads  improve  in  his  town,  so  that  a  good  report  may  be  made; 
then  we  will  have  in  Michigan  the  privilege  of  declaring  free  rock  for 
roads  and  no  competition  with  convict  labor;  then  we  will  have  better 
roads  in  Michigan. 

Speech  of  Kepresentative  Thomas  H.  Tongue  of  Oregon  in  House  of 
Representatives,  Washington. 


GOVERNMENT  AID. 

GOOD    ROADS    WILL    STIMULATE    RURAL    LIFE    AND    BENEFIT    MORE    THAN    THEY 

WILL    COST. 

Representative  Thomas  H.  Tongue,  of  Oregon,  before  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  on  April  24,  appropriations 
for  the  Department  of  Agriculture  being  under  consideration. 

Mr.  Chairman:  I  ask  the  indulgence  of  the  committee  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  notice  that  at  the  proper  time  I  shall  endeavor  to  secure 


88  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

the  adoption  of  the  amendment  which  I  send  to  the  clerk's  desk  and  ask 
to  be  read. 

The  clerk  read  as  follows: 

Strike  out  "twenty,"  in  line  11,  page  48,  after  the  word  "subject," 
and  insert  the  word  "forty"  in  lieu  thereof. 

The  amendment,  if  adopted,  will  increase  the  appropriation  for  "pub- 
lic road  inquiries"  from  $20,000  to  $40,000,  the  amount  recommended  and 
requested  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  present  bill  contains  many  items  where  the  appro- 
priation exceeds  the  amount  carried  in  any  previous  bill.  The  total  of 
these  several  increases  aggregate  $576,150. 

The  following  table  shows  the  appropriations  made  for  the  current 
fiscal  year,  and  also  those  made  by  this  bill  for  the  coming  fiscal  year, 
for  the  different  bureaus,  divisions  and  sections  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  and  indicates  specifically  the  increases  contemplated  by 
this  bill: 

Current  fiscal  year.  1902-03.  Increase 

Office  of  Secretary $71,670  $73,690  $2,020 

Weather  Bureau  1,148,320  1,251,760  103,440 

Animal  Industry   1,154,030  1,247,180  93,150 

Plant  Industry  * 496,680  601,780  105,100 

Forestry 185,440  282,860  97,428 

Chemistry    35,800  73,200  37,400 

Soils 109,140  168,960  59,820 

Entomology    36,200  57,200  21,000 

Biology    ., 32,800  45,600  12,800 

Accounts   18,900  24,100  5,200 

Publications    198,020  228,820  30,800 

Experiment  stations   789,000  792,000  3,000 

Silk  investigations   10,000  10,000 


Total  increase   $581,150 


But  deducting  $5,000  carried  in  last  year's  bill  for  preparing  plans  of  new 
building  for  Department  of  Agriculture,  leaves  a  total  net  increase  for  ad- 
ministration purposes  of  $576,150. 

I  have  no  intention  of  criticising  a  single  increase.  So  far  as  a  brief 
examination  discloses,  they  are  all  worthy  of  careful  and  favorable 
consideration.  There  are  no  expenditures  being  made  by  the  general 
government  from  which  the  benefits  are  so  valuable  or  universal  as 
those  made  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  Cer- 
tainly none  are  made  where  there  is  a  more  conscientious  effort  to  secure 
the  greatest  amount  of  public  good,  and  the  public  good  alone,  for  ev^ry 
dollar  of  expenditure.  But,  Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  no  object  which  the 
bill  attempts  to  secure  which  is  more  important,  or  from  which  the  bene- 
fits would  be  so  great  or  so  universal  or  would  reach  so  many  people — 
and  people  so  much  needing  them — as  the  improvement  of  our  common 
roads,  the  common  property  of  all  the  people. 

There  is  no  greater  subject  with  which  we  are  called  upon  to  deal 
than  improving  the  means,  extending  the  facilities  and  reducing  the 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,    1901-1902.  89 

cost  of  transportation.  There  is  no  branch  of  transportation  where  im- 
provement has  been  so  retarded,  or  is  so  imperatively  needed,  and  is  yet 
so  universally  neglected,  as  transportation  on  our  common  roads.  In 
the  Agricultural  Appropriation  bill  passed  last  year,  and  carrying 
$4,577,420,  no  appropriation  proportionally  to  this  amount  produced 
so  much  good  as  the  $ 20,000  for  "public  road  inquiries." 

The  movement  for  good  roads  is  important  in  many  ways.  It  concerns 
not  only  the  pockets,  but  the  health,  the  tastes,  and  even  the  morals  of 
the  people.  Problems  of  transportation  have  always  been,  are  now, 
and  will  continue  to  be  of  pressing  and  exceptional  importance.  They 
have  engaged  the  attention  of  governments,  ancient  and  modern — Eu- 
ropean, Asiatic,  African  and  American.  They  are  attracting  the  at- 
tention of  private  enterprises,  and  the  greatest  combinations  of  capital 
in  the  world  are  endeavoring  to  control  and  monopolize  the  avenues  and 
means  of  transportation. 


ENORMOUS  RIVER  AND  HARBOR  EXPENDITURES. 

Our  own  government,  in  its  efforts  to  furnish  increased  facilities  for 
water  transportation,  has  expended  for  the  improvement  of  its  rivers 
and  harbors  alone  the  sum  of  $396,600,720.50,,  and  yet  it  has  only  fairly 
begun  this  important  work.  In  1862  the  total  cash  appropriated 
for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors  was  $20,000.  In  1899  this  had 
increased  to  the  sum  of  $40,307,779.48.  The  House  of  Representatives 
a  short  time  ago  passed  a  bill  which  in  the  cash  appropriated  and  the 
amount  which  the  Secretary  of  War  is  authorized  to  expend  under 
contracts  exceeds  $60,000,000.  As  attesting  the  interest  of  the  nation 
in  the  class  of  transportation  that  this  expenditure  is  intended  to  im- 
prove is  the  fact  that  the  bill  passed  the  House  with  scarcely  a  dis- 
senting vote.  Last  week  the  Senate  added  to  this  $10,000,000,  and  then 
in  two  hours  passed  it  without  a  dissenting  vote.  In  aid  of  railroad 
transportation  and  to  assist  in  the  building  of  Pacific  railroads  the 
Federal  government  has  paid,  principal  and  interest,  upon  guaranteed 
debts,  $138,102,919.88. 

In  addition  to  this,  it  has  granted  as  an  inducement  for  the  construc- 
tion of  these  railroads,  an  enormous  amount  of  land,  aggregating  196,- 
569,372  acres.  It  is  true  the  money  advanced  had  been  largely  repaid, 
but  the  land  granted  as  a  gift  to  induce  railroad  construction  equals 
a  vast  empire.  It  equals  in  area  all  of  the  States  of  New  England,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  both  of  the  Virginias  and  the  State 
of  Ohio.  While  the  government  has  dealt  so  liberally,  expending  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  dollars,  and  granting  a  wealth  of  land  beyond  com- 
putation for  the  improvement  of  water  and  railroad  transportation,  it 
has  been  painfully  parsimonious  in  its  appropriation  for  the  improve- 
ment of  common  highways.  Over  these  highways  a  large  proportion  of 
this  vast  commerce  that  goes  to  form  the  great  railroad  and  steamboat 
tonnage  must  first  pass. 

In  addition  to  this,  millions  upon  millions  of  tons  of  local  traffic  con- 
stantly pass  over  these  roads,  and  to  which  no  other  transportation  is 
available.  It  is  believed  that  the  tonnage  of  freight  and  the  number  of 
persons  carried  over  common  highways  equals,  if  it  does  not  exceed,  the 
12 


90  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

tonnage  and  passengers  carried  by  every  railroad  train  and  steamboat 
in  the  land.  Yet  during  the  last  forty  years  the  Federal  Government 
has  expended  for  the  improvement  of  these  roads  the  small  sum  of 
|100,000.  What  has  been  the  result?  Just  such  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. 


RAILROAD  COST. 

Encouraged  by  the  liberal  aid  extended  by  the  Federal  Government 
private  corporations  have  expended  for  the  construction,  the  improve- 
ment and  equipment  of  American  railroads  the  sum  of  $11,491,054,960. 
They  have  constructed,  equipped,  and  are  operating  within  the  United 
States  192,940.67  miles  of  railroad,  or  enough  to  encircle  the  earth  eight 
times  at  the  equator.  Millions  of  money  have  been  expended  in  building 
and  equipping  the  finest  vessels  in  the  world,  engaged  in  the  lake,  river 
and  coastwise  transportation,  and  which  in  quality,  speed  and  beauty 
are  unsurpassed  by  those  of  any  other  nation.  In  railroad  and  water 
transportation  we  have  bounded  forward  with  a  speed  and  rapidity  be- 
37ond  the  wildest  hopes,  while  in  wagon  trasportation  we  have  remained 
stationary  or  are  moving  backward.  In  railroad  and  water  transporta- 
tion we  excel  all  competitors.  In  the  condition  of  our  common  roads 
we  are  behind  the  least  civilized  nations  of  the  old  world. 

In  1870  it  cost  to  ship  wheat  from  Chicago  to  New  York  by  an  all  rail 
route  33.3  cents  a  bushel.  Now,  over  the  same  route,  it  costs  9.96  cents 
a  bushel,  less  than  one-third  of  what  it  cost  then.  In  1870  it  cost  to 
ship  a  bushel  of  wheat  between  the  same  points  on  the  lake  and  canal 
route  17.11  cents.  For  the  same  freight  over  the  same  route  now  it  costs 
4.42  cents,  practically  one-fourth  of  the  former  cost.  A  short  time  ago 
the  secretary  of  the  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce  wrote  me  that  fifteen 
or  twenty  years  ago  it  cost  to  ship  a  ton  of  provisions  from  Boston  to 
Liverpool  f  10.  It  costs  now  $1.75 ;  to  ship  a  ton  of  flour  then  $7.50,  now 
$1.25.  To  ship  a  bushel  of  grain  then  16  cents,  against  2  cents  now. 
To  ship  a  bale  of  cotton  then  2y2  cents  a  pound;  it  costs  50  cents  a  bale 
now;  $30  a  head  for  cattle  then,  $6.25  now. 

Thirty  years  ago  it  cost  the  Western  farmer  to  ship  a  bushel  of  wheat 
from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  by  an  all  water  route,  33.11  cents.  It  costs 
to  ship  a  bushel  of  wheat  over  the  same  route  now  6.42  cents.  The 
struggle  with  foreign  competitors,  in  order  to  preserve  our  markets, 
maintain  our  trade  and  commerce,  has  forced  us  to  rapid  and  unusual 
improvements  in  this  class  of  transportation.  During  the  same  period 
there  has  been  no  improvement  or  reduction  of  cost,  but  rather,  with  in- 
crease of  wages,  an  increased  cost  in  wagon  transportation.  It  costs 
the  Western  farmer  as  much  to  transport  a  ton  of  wheat  from  his 
granary  to  the  railroad  station  or  steamboat,  five  miles  distant,  as  it 
does  to  ship  the  same  freight  from  Boston,  New  York,  or  any  great  At- 
lantic port  to  the  city  of  Liverpool.  It  costs  the  farmer  along  the  line  of 
the  Northern  Pacific  or  Great  Northern  railroad,  in  the  Northwestern 
States  and  Territories,  as  much  to  transport  the  wheat  from  his  farm  to 
the  railroad  station,  twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  distant,  as  it  does  to  ship 
it  from  Duluth  to  Queenstown. 

Rates  of  transportation  concern  every  human  being  in  the  land.  If 
a  purchaser,  they  affect  the  value  of  his  product;  if  a  consumer,  the 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  91 

price  of  his  purchase.  They  determine  the  rise  and  fall,  the  prosperity 
or  decay,  the  wealth  or  poverty  of  communities,  great  centers  of  trade 
and  commerce,  and  even  of  nations  themselves.  Magnificent  cities  spring 
up  in  a  night,  the  growth  of  long  years  sinks  to  speedy  decay,  with  a 
change  in  the  lines  and  rates  of  transportation.  The  conquest  of  mar- 
kets, foreign  and  domestic,  the  balances  of  trade,  frequently  depend  upon 
rates  of  transportation. 

The  most  important  problems  that  now  concern  the  great  West  from 
which  I  come,  and  which  produces  in  such  abundance  the  healthful, 
nourishing  and  luscious  foods  needed  to  feed  the  workmen  in  your 
factories  and  the  crowded  inhabitants  of  your  cities,  are  problems  of 
transportation.  This  explains  why  fruits  of  unsurpassed  flavor  and 
healthfulness,  so  needed  in  the  East,  rot  under  the  trees  of  Western 
orchards.  It  explains  why  timber  of  unexcelled  quality,  which  could  be 
made  into  homes  for  the  homeless  in  the  East,  on  the  Pacific  Coast  is  cut 
down  and  destroyed  as  something  that  incumbers  the  ground. 


TRANSPORTATION  BILLS. 

A  few  years  ago  our  fields  and  farms  and  orchards  and  flocks  were 
neglected,  while  in  the  East,  men,  women  and  children  cried  for  bread 
upon  which  they  were  unable  to  pay  the  transportation  charges.  You 
are  now  paying  thirty  cents  a  pound  for  beef  bought  from  the  Western 
farmer  for  from  six  to  seven  cents  a  pound.  It  is  because  of  these  things 
that  so  many  of  us  are  praying  with  all  the  fervor  of  our  souls  that  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  will  deliberate  less  and  act  more,  and  will 
cease  talking  long  enough  to  do  business  and  pass  the  bill  for  the  con- 
struction of  an  isthmian  canal.  During  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 
1900,  the  American  people  paid  for  railroad  transportation  $1,579,570,- 
830.  We  are  said  to  pay  to  foreign  ships  alone,  for  carrying  our  com- 
merce to  and  from  the  United  States^  |200,000,000  annually.  The  amount 
paid  for  ocean  transportation  upon  American  vessels,  for  water  trans- 
portation upon  the  rivers,  lakes  and  in  the  coastwise  trade,  is  beyond 
computation. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  every  dollar  of  money  in  the  United  States — gold 
and  silver  and  paper,  large  denominations  and  subsidiary — is  paid  out 
every  year  of  our  existence  for  railroad  and  water  transportation  alone, 
and  yet  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  runs  and  rivulets  that  feed  and 
swell  these  great  streams  of  commerce  run  along  our  public  roads,  the 
common  highways  and  common  property  of  all  the  people.  This  prob- 
ably is  true,  in  a  smaller  degree,  regarding  the  products  of  mines,  but  it 
is  almost  wholly  true  as  regards  the  products  of  agriculture.  In  order 
to  realize  the  full  benefits  of  the  sums  we  have  expended  and  the  im- 
provements we  have  achieved  by  rail  and  steam-boat,  there  should  be  a 
corresponding  improvement  in  our  common  roads. 

The  common  road  leads  to  the  railrpad  station  and  to  the  wharf  upon 
the  bank  of  lake  or  river.  The  stream  cannot  rise  higher  than  the 
fountain.  Without  the  common  highway  and  the  farm  wagon  iron  rails 
would  rust  upon  the  track  and  steamboats  rot  at  the  wharf.  While 
great  combinations  of  capital  are  seeking  to  monopolize  and  control 
the  water  and  railroad  routes,  for  the  improvement  of  which  the  govern- 


92  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

ment  has  expended  so  much,  the  common  highways  belong  to  all  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  No  combination  of  capital  can  monopolize 
or  control  them.  Their  benefits,  like  the  dews  of  heaven,  descend  alike 
upon  the  just  and  unjust,  the  millionaire  and  the  pauper,  the  child  of  the 
poor  as  well  as  the  child  of  the  rich. 

The  people's  money  expended  for  their  improvement  will  bless  all  the 
people.  There  will  be  no  percentage  deducted  to  increase  the  full  coffers 
of  those  already  rich.  The  cost  of  transportation  constitutes  the  largest 
item  of  the  expenditures  of  the  American  people.  An  annual  saving  of 
five  per  cent  of  this  would  represent  an  amount  exceeding  the  output 
of  every  gold  mine  in  the  land.  A  saving  for  transportation  of  persons 
and  property  over  the  common  roads  would  be  more  widely  diffused, 
would  insure  to  the  benefits  of  more  people,  and  to  more  people  who 
need  it,  than  a  decrease  on  any  other  expenditure. 


EVERY   ONE  AFFECTED. 

I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  importance  of  good  roads  as  they  affect  the 
transportation  of  persons.  They  give  us  increased  time  and  increase  of 
pleasure.  We  accomplish  more,  see  more  of  Hfe,  live  more  and  longer 
in  one  year  than  our  ancestors  in  ten.  Time  is  becoming  of  supreme  im- 
portance. Quickness  of  change  from  place  to  place,  speed  with  which 
the  powers  of  man  can  be  transferred  from  one  point  to  another,  was 
never  so  much  desired  as  now.  Speed  in  transportation  is  economy  of 
time,  and  the  adage  that  "time  is  money"  was  never  truer  than  now.  But 
I  shall  not  stop  to  dwell  upon  this  phase  of  the  subject. 

Good  roads  do  not  only  concern  our  pockets.  They  may  become  the 
instrumentalities  for  improved  health,  increased  happiness  and  pleasure, 
for  refining  tastes,  strengthening,  broadening  and  elevating  the  char- 
acter. The  toiler  in  the  great  city  must  have  rest  and  recreation.  Old 
and  young,  and  especially  the  young,  with  character  unformed,  must 
and  will  sweeten  the  daily  labor  with  some  pleasure.  It  is  not  the 
hours  of  industry  but  the  hours  devoted  to  pleasure  that  furnish  the 
devil  his  opportunity.  It  'is  not  while  we  are  at  work,  but  while  we  are 
at  play,  that  temptations  steal  over  the  senses,  put  conscience  to  sleep, 
despoil  manhood  and  destroy  character. 

Healthful  and  innocent  recreations  and  pleasures  are  national  needs 
and  national  blessings.  They  are  among  the  most  important  instrumen- 
talities of  moral  reform.  They  are  as  essential  to  purity  of  mind  and 
soul  as  to  healthfulness  of  body.  Out  beyond  the  confines  of  the  city, 
with  its  dust  and  dirt  and  filth,  morally  and  physically,  these  are  to  be 
found,  and  good  roads  help  to  find  them.  What  peace  and  inspiration 
with  flowers  and  music,  brooks  and  waterfalls!  How  the  mountains, 
pointing  heavenward,  yesterday  battling  with  storms,  to-day  bathed 
with  sunshine,  bid  you  to  stand  firm,  walk  erect,  look  upward,  cherish 
hope,  and  for  light  and  guidance  to  call  upon  the  Creator  of  all  light  and 
of  all  wisdom! 

How  such  scenes  as  those  kindle  the  imagination  of  the  poet,  quicken 
and  enlarge  the  conception  of  the  artist,  fire  the  soul  of  the  orator,  purify 
and  elevate  us  all!  But  if  love  of  action  rather  than  contemplation  and 
reflection  tempts  you,  how  the  blood  thrills  and  the  spirits  rise  as  one 
springs  lightly  into  the  saddle,  caresses  the  slender  neck  of  an  equine 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  93 

beauty,  grasps  firmly  the  reins,  bids  farewell  to  the  impurities  of  the  city, 
and  dashes  into  the  hills  and  the  valleys  and  the  mountains  to  commune 
with  nature  and  nature's  God. 

Or  what  joy  more  exquisite  than  when  with  pleasant  companionship 
you  dash  along  the  smooth  highway,  while  that  king  of  the  animal  crea- 
tion, next  to  woman  man's  most  cherished  friend,  an  American  trotter, 
with  swelling  muscles,  arched  neck,  flashing  eye  and  nostrils  aflame,  an- 
swers every  touch  of  the  line,  every  tone  of  the  voice,  with  a  fresh  burst 
of  speed,  carrying  you  along  green  fields,  by  murmuring  brooks,  blushing 
flowers,  while  the  winds  whisper  through  the  leaves  and  the  birds  cheer 
you  with  their  song.  Beauty,  fragrance  and  music  all  around  you;  the 
blue  dome  of  heaven  above  you,  and  the  mountains  the  witnesses  of  your 
ecstatic  pleasure!  What  poor  city  scene  can  so  inspire  poetic  feeling, 
can  so  increase  the  love  of  the  beautiful,  can  so  elevate  and  broaden  and 
strengthen  the  character,  and  so  inspire  us  with  reverence  for  the  great 
Father  of  us  all?  But  for  the  full  enjoyment  of  such  pleasures  good 
roads  are  indispensable. 


FOR   THE    AMERICAN    HOME. 

Another  blessing  to  come  with  good  roads  will  be  the  stimulus  and 
encouragements  to  rural  life,  country  life,  if  you  will,  farm  life.  The 
present  tendency  of  population  to  rush  into  the  great  cities  makes 
neither  for  the  health,  the  character,  the  intelligence  nor  the  morals  of 
the  nation.  It  has  been  said  that  no  living  man  can  trace  his  ancestry 
on  both  sides  to  four  generations  of  city  residents.  The  brain  and  the 
brawn  and  the  morals  of  the  city  are  constantly  replenished  from  the 
farm  homes.  The  best  home  life  is  upon  the  farm,  and  the  most  sacred 
thing  in  America  is  the  American  home. 

It  lies  at  the  foundation  of  our  institutions,  of  our  health,  of  our 
character,  our  prosperity,  our  happiness,  here  and  hereafter.  The  snares 
and  pitfalls  set  for  our  feet  are  not  near  the  home.  The  pathways  upon 
which  stones  are  hardest  and  thorns  sharpest  are  not  those  that  lead 
to  the  sacred  spot  hallowed  by  a  father's  love  and  a  mother's  prayer. 
The  bravest  and  best  men,  the  purest  and  holiest  women  are  those  who 
best  love,  cherish  and  protect  the  home.  God  guard  well  the  American 
home,  and  this  done,  come  all  the  powers  of  darkness  and  they  shall  not 
prevail  against  us. 

Fatherhood  and  motherhood  are  nowhere  more  sacred,  more  holy  or 
better  beloved  than  upon  the  farm.  The  ties  of  brotherhood  and  sister- 
hood are  nowhere  more  sweet  or  tender.  The  fair  flower  of  patriotism 
there  reaches  its  greatest  perfection.  Every  battlefield  that  marks  the 
world's  progress  or  the  victory  of  liberty  over  tyranny,  right  over  wrong, 
has  been  deluged  with  the  blood  of  farmers.  In  the  hour  of  its  greatest 
needs  our  country  never  called  for  help  upon  its  stalwart  yeomen  when 
the  fry  w;»s  unheeded.  The  American  farmer  hides  neither  from  the  re- 
cruiting officer  nor  the  tax-gatherer. 

The  sons  and  daughters  of  American  farmers  are  filing  the  seminaries 
and  colleges  and  universities  of  the  land.  From  the  American  home  have 
gone  in  the  past,  as  they  are  going  now,  leaders  in  literature,  the  arts 
and  sciences,  presidents  of  great  universities,  the  heads  of  great  indus- 
trial enterprises.  u'ovrnmrs  of  Suites,  members  of  Congress  in  House  and 


94  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

Senate.  They  have  filled  the  benches  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  chairs 
of  the  Cabinet  and  the  greatest  executive  office  in  the  civilized  world. 
Our  greatest  jurist  was  a  Virginia  farmer;  our  greatest  soldier,  our 
greatest  orators,  the  godlike  Webster  and  the  "Mill  Boy  of  the  Slashes," 
our  three  greatest  Presidents — Washington,  Lincoln  and  McKinley, 
whose  fame  is  immortal — drew  life  and  inspiration  from  rural  homes. 

The  typical  American  to-day  is  the  American  farmer.  The  city  life, 
with  its  bustle  and  stir,  its  hurry  and  rush,  its  feverish  anxiety  for 
wealth,  position  and  rank  in  society,  its  fretting  over  ceremonies  and 
precedents,  is  breaking  down  the  health  and  intellect  and  the  morals  of 
its  inhabitants.  These  must  be  replenished  from  the  rural  home.  What- 
ever shall  tend  to  create  a  love  for  country  life,  to  decrease  the  rush  for 
the  city,  instill  a  desire  to  dwell  in  the  society  of  nature,  will  make  for 
the  health,  the  happiness,  the  refinement,  the  moral  and  intellectual 
improvement  of  the  people.  Nothing  will  contribute  more  to  this  than 
the  improvement  of  our  common  roads  to  facilitate  the  mean's  of  com- 
munication between  one  section  of  the  country  and  the  other,  and  be- 
tween all  and  the  city. 

I  commend  the  wrork  now  being  carried  on  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  under  the  superintendency  and  control  and  management  of 
Director  Dodge.  In  proportion  to  the  expenditure  of  public  money  no 
work  is  now  being  carried  on  by  the  general  government  that  will  bring 
so  much  good  to  so  many  people,  and  particularly  to  so  many  of  those 
whom  we  call  the  common  people,  and  whom  Lincoln  said  God  must 
love  because  he  created  so  many  of  them.  This  work  merits  the  most 
considerate  and  liberal  treatment  from  American  statesmen.  The  work 
should  be  carried  on  in  every  State  of  the  Union.  I  would  like  to  have 
the  appropriation  large  enough  to  enable  Director  Dodge  and  his  able 
assistants  to  come  and  bring  their  machinery  to  the  great  West. 


EXPERIENCES  OF 

PEAGTICAL  MEN 

WITH   ROAD   LAWS    AND   MACHINES 


EPIGEAMS  ON  STONE  AND  DIRT  ROADS 


REPORT  OF 

F.    ROGERS 

CONSULTING  ENGINEEK 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1'.M.,2.  97 


GRADERS. 

Often  used  are  graders,  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  practically  mud-kncad- 
ers,  that  is,  the  worn  out  dirt  and  gravel  that  has  been  washed  to  the 
sides  of  the  road,  is  with  the  grader  kneaded  back  into  the  middle  for 
the  wheels  and  rain  to  make  mud  pies  of. 

If  the  grader  was  used  for  scooping  into  winrows,  this  worn  out  ma- 
terial, and  it  was  hauled  to  fill  up  holes  in  the  meadow's  so  that  farms 
would  look  as  though  they  were  as  well  cared  for  as  they  are  expected  to 
care  for  the  owners,  and  gravel  was  used  or  even  new  soil  or  sand  and 
soil,  or  sand  and  clay  to  round  up  the  roads,  so  that  they  would  be  like  a 
duck's  back,  made  so  water  wrill  run  off  instead  of  in,  and  the  grader 
used  to  pack  it  down,  if  no  roller  is  at  hand  to  do  it,  then  the  grader  is 
a  machine  that  is  rightly  named,  for  it  will  change  the  road  from  a  low 
grade  to  a  high  grade. 

A  road  rounded  up  of  worn  out  dirt  reminds  me  of  children  who  play 
business  and  make  money  out  of  common  paper  by  simply  placing  such 
figures  on  as  they  need  bills  in  their  business,  but  a  barrel  of  such  money 
might  be  worth  ten  cents  as  paper  rags  but  nothing,  though  there  is  a 
great  quantity  of  it  for  real  business  transactions,  and  all  this  worn  out 
road,  which  each  year  is  hauled  back  to  play  road  with  isn't  worth  as 
much  as  a  tenth  part  of  the  same  bulk  of  gravel  would  be;  but  a  small 
lot  of  gravel  should  not  be  spread  over  a  great  amount  of  road  no  more 
than  it  would  be  a  wise  move  to  set  a  hen  on  48  eggs,  she  would  be  so 
spread  out  that  she  wouldn't  be  able  to  hatch  any  chickens;  when  if  she 
had  been  set  on  what  she  could  cover,  she  would  have  hatched  them  all, 
and  just  so  with  the  gravel;  if  you  want  it  to  do  any  good,  reverse  your 
grader,  and  throw  up  a  six  inch  shoulder  at  both  sides,  and  fill  in  six  or 
eight  inches  of  gravel  upon  this  crowrned  sub-grade,  crowning  the  gravel 
duck-back  like,  and  doing  well  what  you  do  do,  and  what  you  cannot  do 
this  way  leave  and  do  it  next  year,  choosing  each  year  the  poorest  place 
and  making  it  the  best  place  and  soon  graders  and  road  officials  will  be 
looked  up  to  and  eulogized  instead  of  d — d  as  they  are  frequently  now- 
a-days,  and  sometimes  not  without  sufficient  cause  and  provocation. 

A  grader  don't  complete  a  road  any  more  than  athletic  exercise  makes 
a  man  out  of  a  boy.  This  exercise  develops  his  physical  powers  and  bet- 
ter fits  him  to  take  in  moral  and  mental  education  so  as  to  be  a  full 
rounded  man. 

Likewise  the  grader  if  properly  used  will  grade  the  road  up  into  proper 
shape  and  condition  to  receive  the  gravel  or  stone  that  shall  make  it  a 
road  indeed,  and  one  that  can  be  used  with  pleasure  and  profit. 

I  havo  several  thousand  letters  relating  to  graders  and  the  road  ma- 
chinery law;  not  to  exceed  two  per  cent  of  them  are  against  the  law  and 
no  per  cpnt  against  the  machine;  yet  twenty-five  per  cent  criticise  the 
way  the  machines  are  used,  either  the  time  of  year  that  they  are  used,  or 
that  they  are  used  by  inexperienced  mon,  and  that  the  roads  are  £rn 
13 


98  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN. 

too  narrow,  or  that  sods  are  hauled  into  the  road  and  not  properly  com- 
pacted so  as  to  leave  a  horrible  rough  road  all  tending  to  show  that  the 
only  cause  for  complaint  is,  the  lack  of  knowing  how,  which  will  swiftly 
vanish  if  there  was  a  highway  commission  established  and  which  would 
practically  be  a  Koad  Builders  and  Menders  College,  for  the  dissemina- 
tion of  knowledge,  of  how  best  to  build  and  repair  the  roads  and  what 
use  to  make  of  machinery  and  what  not  to  do  with  it. 

A  few  sample  letters  showing  that  neither  the  graders  or  the  law  un- 
der which  they  are  purchased  are  condemned  foflow. 

Graders  ought  to  be  followed  by  gravel  wagons  and  road  rollers,  then 
the  subgrade  will  be  protected  like  as  a  house  is  when  shingled  or  a 
duck  when  feathered  or  a  dog  when  haired. 

bear  Sir — In  reply  to  your  inquiries,  will  say,  that  our  township  has 
two  road  scrapers,  purchased  four  years  ago  and  we  find  them  a 
success  upon  gravel  or  clay  soils,  but  don't  think  they  are  of  much  use 
on  sand,  unless  covered  as  soon  as  graded  with  clay  or  gravel. 

I  think  one  grader  sufficient  for  four  districts. 

Respectfully  yours, 


Give  this  Supervisor  some  state  aid  money  and  he  would  raise  as  much 
more  in  his  township  and  build  some  permanent  roads. 

Dear  Sir — Yours  to  hand.    We  have  several  road  graders  in  our  town- 
ship and  they  do  good  work. 

But  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  Government  should  aid  in  constructing 
the  country  roads.  They  improve  Kivers  and  Harbors  and  help  to  build 
railroads  and  other  institutions.  Now,  why  not  help  a  little  about  the 
public  highways;  the  poor  old  farmers  cannot  do  it  all.  Please  send  me 
good  roads  literature. 

A  good  roads  advocate, 


Evidently  this  man  has  been  thinking,  and  probably  along  the  line  that 
when  a  man  gets  rich  he  goes  to  some  metropolis  and  forgets  to  make 
any  contributions  to  the  road  building  fund. 

My  Dear  Sir — The  different  road  districts  of  this  township  are  not 
able  to  purchase  their  own  road  machines,  but  the  township  has  pur- 
chased one  to  be  used  throughout  the  township.  We  still  favor  the  law 
and  on  the  whole  believe  it  a  good  law  for  the  state.  Our  road  grader 
is  almost  constantly  in  use,  by  the  use  of  it  the  dirt  roads  are  got  in 
shape  for  gravel,  by  far  cheaper  and  quicker  than  in  the  old  way. 

Yours  very  truly, 

This  man  knew  his  business — grade  and  then  gravel. 

Dear  Sir — In  answer  to  your  letter  about  good  dirt  roads  and  what 
about  the  present  law.  We  are  getting  along  nicely,  we  have  very 
nearly  all  dirt  roads,  mostly  sand,  but  are  getting  them  in  shape,  we  have 
bought  a  road  grader  about  five  years  ago  and  it  does  splendid  work,  we 
can  turnpike  about  one  half  mile  of  road  a  day  with  four  horses,  the 
expense  is  eight  dollars  a  day,  after  we  turnpike  the  road  we  put  gravel 
in  center  about  eight  foot  wide,  in  that  way  we  can  put  up  a  good  piece 
road  for  a  little  money. 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  99 

You  ask  if  our  districts  have  road  machines,  they  have  not,  the  town- 
ship has  one  and  the  Commissioner  does  the  handling.  The  machine 
does  good  work  on  roads,  better  than  by  hand  and  five  times  cheaper,  the 
machine  will  pay  for  itself  in  four  years,  in  the  first  place  the  machine 
makes  the  road  harder  and  then  when  we  put  on  the  gravel  we  have  a 
better  road  for  we  have  a  better  bottom. 
The  law  is  all  right. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Highway  Commissioner. 

p.  g. — When  I  begin  to  put  up  a  piece  of  road,  the  first  thing,  I  get  all 
stumps  taken  out,  then  I  lay  out  the  road  for  turnpiking.  I  generally 
make  my  roads  about  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  feet  wide,  pike  them  up 
nice  and"  round  to  keep  the  water  off,  then  I  put  on  gravel  8  feet  wide  and 
eight  inches  deep  in  the  center  and  4  inches  on  the  sides,  have  it  all  hoed 
down  and  all  large  stone  thrown  out  of  the  road. 

Any  one  who  reads  the  above  letter  and  knows  any  thing  at  all  about 
road  building,  knows  that  this  is  the  kind  of  a  commissioner  to  keep  in 
office  for  twenty-five  years  and  that  he  don't  need  anybody  to  instruct 
him  in  road  building.  Just  give  such  men  as  this  enough  money  and 
they  will  make  life  worth  living  in  Michigan. 

Dear  Sir — In  regard  to  road  graders,  they  are  all  right,  our  township 
has  four  of  them,  three  on  the  district  plan,  and  one  owned  by  the  town- 
ship. After  getting  them  they  have  put  them  to  good  use.  There  has 
been  good  improvements  made  by  their  use.  You  ask  do  the  people  still 
favor  the  law.  The  majority  of  them  do,  those  opposed  are  those  who 
go  on  the  road  to  work  and  want  to  make  a  holiday  of  it.  I  will  say,  it 
has  been  a  good  law  for  the  roads  of  Michigan  and  ought  to  be  continued. 

I  am  one  who  want  to  see  the  good  work  go  on. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Commissioner  of  Highways. 

Here  is  another  commissioner  that  ought  to  have  a  perpetual  lease  of 
the  commissionership  in  his  town,  or  nothing  less  than  leaving  for  to 
take  up  his  abode  in  the  other  world  ought  to  separate  him  from  the  posi- 
tion. And  I  will  wager  that  those  who  work  for  him  do  as  much  when 
working  out  their  statute  labor  as  they  would  if  paid  the  cash,  and  that 
the  cash  came  out  of  his  pocket. 

My  Dear  Sir — Your  inquiry  in  regard  to  state  law  on  roads  and  ma- 
chines to  hand.  Would  say,  there  has  been  no  road  machines  bought  in 
our  township  by  the  road  districts.  The  road  machines  used  in  our 
township  have  been  bought  by  the  township  at  large  and  there  has  been 
a  jrreat  improvement  in  our  roads  since  using  the  machines. 

All  the  trouble  there  is,  is  that  we  have  not  got  enough  of  them. 

Yours  very  truly. 


Dear  Sir — In  reply  to  your  questions  would  say,  that  our  township 
road  districts  have  clubbed  together  and  have  bought  in  all  six  road  ma- 
chines under  the  law. 

They  are  quite  generally  used  throughout  the  township  and  I  think 
with  good  results  and  I  think  the  people  still  favor  the  law. 


100  bTATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

I  would  make  a  suggestion,  in  addition  to  the  grader  a  heavy  roller  be 
used  when  grading  the  roads  and  as  fast  as  the  dirt  is  brought  into  the 
road  run  the  roller  over  it,  YOU  cannot  roll  too  much  as  rolling  compacts 
the  soil,  crushes  out  the  voids  and  therefore  leaves  no  place  for  the  water 
to  get  in  and  loosen  the  soil. 

Yours  very  truly, 


Another  thinker,  and  has  a  reason  for  his  belief.  General  E.  G.  Harri- 
son, the  veteran  road  builder  and  expert  so  long  connected  with  the  office 
of  public  road  inquiries  at  Washington,  once  told  a  man  who  had  told 
him  that  they  had  everything  with  which  to  build  roads  except  a  road 
roller,  "The  one  thing  needful  in  your-case  is,  sell  all  you.  have  and  get  a 
road  roller." 

These  letters  are  just  about  the  same  as  thousands  of  others  which  I 
have  and  which  are  interesting  and  instructive  reading. 

No  man  knows  it  all,  and  when  you  rub  up  against  thousands  of 
others  you  will  be  able  to  get  something  and  to  give  something,  and  by 
this  work  bring  the  whole  road  building  fraternity  into  communication 
with  each  other  to  their  benefit  and  the  benefit  of  the  roads  and  those 
who  have  occasion  to  use  them. 


THE  ROAD  SURFACE. 

A  road  surface  of  gravel  or  broken  stone  performs  various  services. 
The  subsoil  of  clay  or  loam  alone  ruts  readily,  softens  quickly  after  a 
rain  and  has  little  supporting  power.  A  well  compacted  layer  of  gravel 
or  broken  stone  over  it  distributes  the  concentrated  wTheel  load  over  a 
great  area  of  subsoil ;  it  does  not  rut  readily  and  affords  good  surface 
drainage;  it  gives  a  smooth,  hard  wearing  surface;  water  does  not  easily 
penetrate  it  so  as  to  soften  and  reduce  the  supporting  power  of  the 
subsoil. 

The  depth  of  gravel  or  stone  to  be  used  must  vary  with  the  quality 
of  the  material,  the  amount  and  nature  of  traffic  on  the  road,  and  the 
nature  of  the  subsoil.  A  dry,  compact  and  stony  subsoil,  needs  less 
metal  than  does  a  plastic  clay,  difficult  of  drainage.  No  definite  rule  can 
be  laid  down  other  than  that  from  six  to  twelve  inches  of  well  consoli- 
dated material  will  afford  a  sufficient  range  to  accommodate  most  circum- 
stances. Under  ordinary  conditions  ten  inches  of  metal  should  accommo- 
date the  heaviest  traffic,  to  which  a  gravel  or  broken  stone  roadway  can 
be  economically  subjected. 

A  very  notable  defect  of  most  country  roads  is  the  flat  or  even  concave 
surface.  Others  present  the  opposite  extreme  and  are  so  rounded  as  to 
be  dangerously  high  in  the  center,  making  it  difficult  for  vehicles  to  turn 
out  in  passing.  Roads  must  be  crowned  sufficiently  to  shed  water  from 
the  center  to  the  open  drains  at  the  side,  otherwise  water  will  stand  in 
the  roadway,  soak  into  it,  soften  and  cause  rapid  wear  and  decay;  but 
a  crown  higher  than  is  necessary  to  properly  drain  the  surface  is  also 
objectionable. 

The  amount  of  crown  should  not  be  more  1han  sufficient  to  provide  for 
surface  drainage.  A  stoopor  crown  than'  is  nocpssarv  tends  to  confine  traf- 
fic to  the  center  of  the  road,  and  in  turning  out  the  weight  of  the  load  is 


iIH.H\VAY     COMMITTEE/    1901-1  .„  101 

thrown  on  one  pair  of  wheels  in  such  a  way  as  to  rut  the  side  of  the  road. 
The  shape  of  the  crown  is  a  matter  on  which  expert  road-makers  differ, 
but  with  Hie  class  of  material  available  for  roads  in  Michigan,  and  the 
methods  and  plans  of  construction,  a  form  as  nearly  circular  as  possible 
will  be  found  most  serviceable  and  most  easily  obtained. 

From  tin1  edge  of  the  open  drain  the  graded  portion  of  the  roadway 
should  be  crowned  with  a  circular  rise  of  one  inch  to  the  foot  from  side 
to  center.  That  is,  a  driveway  twenty- four  feet  wide  should  be  one  foot 
higher  at  Hie  cent  or  than  at  the  side.  This  amount  of  crown  may  appear 
excessive,  but  with  gravel  roads  and  roads  metalled  with  the  quality  of 
stones  commonly  used,  is  not  more  than  sufficient  to  provide  for  wear 
and  settlement  consistent  with  good  surface  drainage. 

The  elevation  of  the  road  above  the  level  of  the  adjacent  land,  need 
not  be  greater  than  is  sufficient  to  provide  against  the  overflow  of  storm 
water,  which  should  always  be  guarded  against.  The  depth  of  the  open 
drain  must  vary  according  to  the  amount  of  fall  and  the  quantity  of 
water  to  be  provided  for;  also  according  to  the  sub-drainage  needed  and 
provided.  When  tile  sub-drains  are  used  the  open  drain  can  often  be  very 
shallow ;  in  which  case  the  width  of  the  graded  roadway  can  be  narrowed, 
there  being  no  danger  of  accidents  such  as  are  caused  by  a  deep  trench  at 
the  roadside.  The  tile  drains  should  be  placed  below  frost,  and  usually 
a  depth  of  three  feet  will  answer. 

GRAVEL  ROADS. 

Michigan  is  very  fortunate  in  having,  over  a  large  proportion  of  its  area, 
a  plentiful  supply  of  gravel,  suitable  for  road  metal,  and  it  ought  to  be 
used  to  a  great  extent  in  surfacing  the  ordinary  roads.  Where  it  is  to 
be  obtained  within  easy  hauling  distance  it  is  a  most  valuable  material 
for  use  on  country  roads  and  on  many  of  the  little  traveled  residential 
streets  of  towns.  In  localities  where  gravel  is  not  within  easy  hauling 
distance  it  will  be  advisable  to  consider  the  use  of  other  material;  since 
gravel,  if  not  found  in  the  immediate  locality  and  therefore  expensive  in 
transportation,  will  frequently  l»e  found  less  economical  in  final  cost 
than  a  better,  though  higher  priced  stone. 

(I ravel  may  be  described  as  a  mass  of  fragments  of  stone,  rounded  and 
worn  by  the  action  of  air,  water  and  ice,  the  pebbles  representing  the 
hardest  bits  of  the  rock  from  which  they  were  detached.  With  it  is  com- 
monly mingled  a  variable  quantity  of  boulders,  sand,  clay  and  earthy 
matter.  The  rounded,  water-worn  character  of  the  pebbles  composing 
the  gravel,  does. not  permit  as  perfect  a  bond  as  is  the  case  with  a  road 
covering  of  crushed  stone,  in  which  the  sharp  angular  sides  take  a  linn, 
mechanical  clasp. 

Gravel  has  not  very  satisfactory  wearing  qualities,  especially  when  it 
contains  an  excessive  amount  of  earthy  matter.  Where  much  sand  and 
clay  is  contained,  these  should  be  removed  by  screening,  and  the  large 
stones  and  boulders  should  be  broken.  If  there  is  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  the  latter,  a  method  which  offers  many  advantages  is  to  place 
a  rock  crusher  with  a  rotary  screen  attachment  in  the  pit,  passing  all  the 
material  through,  thereby  removing  the  earthy  substances,  and  breaking 
tlie  stone  with  one  operation.  If  the  number  of  large  stones  is  not  great, 
it  will  be  the  cheaper  plan  to  screen  the  gravel  in  the  ordinary  way,  or 
•  ilary  screen  propelled  by  steam,  the  lies  boincj  broken 

bv  hand. 


102  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

When  being  prepared  for  use  on  heavily  traveled  and  important  roads, 
care  should  be  taken  to  remove  the  dirt  from  the  gravel.  Sand  and  clay, 
when  mixed  with  gravel  affords  an  easy  means  of  consolidating  the  road 
covering  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  very  suitable  for  traffic  in  dry  weather. 
But  in  wet  weather  moisture  is  absorbed,  the  roadway  becomes  soft  and 
slushy,  ruts  form  readily  and  the  bond  will  be  found  of  a  very  temporary 
nature.  For  little  traveled  roads,  it  may  be  impossible  to  take  the  pre- 
caution to  screen  the  gravel ;  and,  perhaps,  if  the  earthy  matter  is  not  in 
excess,  screening  may  be  omitted  to  advantage;  it  is  necessary,  however, 
to  emphasize  the  point  that  this  can  be  recommended  for  little  traveled 
roads  only.  It  is  the  stone,  not  the  earthy  material  which  is  needed  on 
the  roads.  There  is  enough  dirt  already  on  the  roads  without  the  town- 
ship paying  for  hauling  more.  Nor  should  there  be  loose  stones  or  boul- 
ders, as  they  will  work  up  and  "roll  loosely  under  the  feet  of  horses  and 
wheels  of  vehicles. 

When  gravel  is  not  screened,  very  much  may  be  accomplished  by  care 
in  selecting  and  taking  it  from  the  pit.  In  drawing  gravel  to  the  roads, 
it  is  frequently  the  case  that  teamsters  wish  to  be  in  company  with  each 
other  as  much  as  possible.  For  this  reason  when  loading  the  gravel, 
while  there  may  be  room  for  only  one  wagon  in  the  pit,  at  the  point  where 
the  best  material  is  to  be  found,  a  dozen  teams  will  drive  in  and  the 
wagons  are  filled  with  whatever  stuff  can  be  most  easily  obtained,  whether 
gravel,  sand,  boulders  or  clay.  Another  common  cause  of  earthy  matter 
and  sod  being  mixed  with  the  gravel,  is  to  be  found  in  the  practice  of 
tunnelling  under  an  overlying  layer  of  soil,  which  gradually  falls  into 
the  pit,  is  mixed  with  the  metal,  and  is  drawn  with  it  to  the  road.  This 
earth  should  be  first  stripped  from  the  surface  if  it  does  not  form  too 
deep  a  strata,  or  care  should  be  taken  as  it  falls  to  keep  it  from  mixing 
with  the  gravel. 

In  searching  for  gravel,  the  clearest  indications  are  usually  to  be  found 
along  the  banks  of  streams,  where  any  extensive  strata  are  apt  to  be 
exposed.  A  post-hole  auger  affords  a  convenient  means  of  making  tests 
over  the  surface  of  the  soil  for  gravel,  but  the  best  implement  is  generally 
a  simple  form  of  drill.  There  are  cases  in  which  a  gravel  bed  may  be 
entered  at  the  level  of  a  stream  bed,  and  water  is  thereby  obtained  for 
washing  the  metal  by  natural  drainage,  affording  a  cheaper  means  of 
freeing  it  from  sand  and  earthy  matter  than  by  screening  it.  Gravel  is 
still  being  deposited  in  drifts  and  bars  by  the  agency  of  streams;  this 
will  be  found  to  partake  of  the  character  of  the  pit  gravel  of  the  locality, 
but  generally  will  contain  less  clay,  although  sand  may  easily  be  in 
excess.  This  is  usually  one  of  the  best  sources,  as  the  gravel  can  be 
washed  by  natural  drainage.  Lake  gravel  is  often  a  good  metal,  but 
varies  greatly.  It  is  apt  to  be  slaty,  and  undesirable  in  quality.  It  will 
be  free  from  dirt  and  clay,  but  usually  contains  sufficient  sharp  sand  to 
secure  consolidation,  especially  if  a  roller  is  used.  Gravel  which  contains 
a  perpendicular  face  in  the  pit  in  the  spring,  and  shows  no  trace  of  slip- 
ping when  thawing  out,  may  generally  be  assumed  to  be  sufficiently  clean 
and  free  from  clay  for  use  on  the  road  without  any  treatment  other  than 
is  necessary  to  remove  stones  greater  than  one  inch  and  a  quarter  in 
diameter. 

A  great  many  townships  buy  gravel  by  the  load.  This  is  very  much 
like  buying  water  by  the  pailful  instead  of  digging  a  well.  Gravel  should 
be  bought  by  the  pit  or  by  the  acre,  and  should  be  available  at  all  times 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE.     1901-1  103 

for  any  farmer  who  wants  to  increase  the  value  of  his  land  by  improving 
the  road  past  it.  Especial  care  should  be  taken  by  overseers  to  see  that, 
prior  to  the  performance  of  statute  labor,  the  pit  is  stripped  and  the 
gravel  otherwise  treated  if  necessary. 

The  majority  of  old  gravel  roads  have  been  neglected  in  a  number  of 
particulars.  They  are  allowed  to  become  too  flat  to  shed  the  water.  The 
sides  of  the  road  form  square  shoulders,  which  obstructs  the  water  in 
passing  to  the  surface  drains.  Open  drains  are  often  deep  and  dangerous, 
but  are  not  provided  with  proper  outlets.  If  drains  are  merely  receptacles 
for  water  the  subsoil  of  the  roadway -absorbs  the  moisture*,  is  softened 
and  in  wet  weather  of  fall  and  spring  travel  forces  the  gravel  downward, 
and  the  mud  to  the  surface,  mixing  the  gravel  and  soil  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  very  much  destroy  the  usefulness  of  the  road  covering. 

A  great  mistake  is  made  when  repairing  these  roads  with  a  grading 
machine,  by  cutting  off  the  shoulders  and  bringing  the  loosened  material 
into  the  center  to  round  up  the  roadway.  If  a  portion  of  the  shoulder 
happens  to  consist  of  clean  gravel,  this  may  be  replaced  on  the  hardened 
track  of  the  road.  But  as  a  rule  the  shoulders  are  composed  of  fine  stuff, 
sand,  dirt,  loose  stones  and  sod,  of  the  greatest  injury  to  the  roadway. 
This  stuff  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  at  once  roughen  the  road,  while  in  wet 
weather  it  absorbs  water,  becomes  soft  and  slushy,  and  ruins  the  hard 
gravel  foundation  underneath.  The  material  composing  these  shoulders 
should  be  thrown  outward  across  the  open  drains  and  used  in  leveling 
the  roadside,  or  it  should  be  otherwise  disposed  of  in  such  a  manner  that 
it  will  not  injure  the  roadway.  When  these  shoulders  have  been  cut  off 
it  will  be  advisable  to  pass  the  road  scraper  over  the  center  to  take  away 
as  much  fine  stuff  and  loose  stones  as  possible;  and  on  this  a  new  layer 
of  gravel  or  broken  stones  may  be  placed  to  complete  the  crown  of  the 
road. 

The  drainage  usually  found  on  existing  roads  consists  of  open  ditches 
on  each  side  of  the  graded  portion,  with  a  depth  of  about  eighteen  inches. 
They  are  frequently  carried  through  rises  of  ground,  past  natural  water 
courses.  Little  attention  is  given  to  the  regularity  of  the  grade  in  the 
bottom,  nor  to  the  amount  of  fall,  as  evidenced  by  the  varying  debts  of 
stagnant  water  at  wet  seasons.  The  object  of  these  drains  was  more  to 
procure  earth  to  raise  the  center  of  the  road  above  the  water  line  than 
to  lower  the  water. 

The  best  practice  does  not  direct  that  the  old  open  drains  should  be 
deepened  for  the  purpose  of  draining  the  subsoil.  Deep,  open  drains  are 
expensive,  dangerous  and  unsightly,  and  the  excavated  earth  generally 
does  more  harm  than  good  to  the  road  when  used  to  round  it  up,  especially 
if  piled  on  top  of  gravel.  When  the  combined  cost  of  construction  and 
maintenance  is  considered,  a  tile  drain  laid  under  the  bottom  of  open 
drains  is  cheaper  and  more  serviceable.  It  is  urged  by  some  that  one  tile 
drain  placed  in  the  center  of  the  grade  is  the  better  plan.  In  the  case  of  an 
old  road  with  a  hard  surface  this  is  very  difficult  and  expensive,  and  the 
roadbed,  if  metal  has  been  used,  is  destroyed  by  so  doing.  If  any  obstruc- 
tion occurs  with  one  central  drain,  in  order  to  locate  and  remove  the 
cause  of  the  difficulty,  the  roadbed  must  be  broken  up,  sometimes  exten- 
sively. Where  side  drains  are  constructed  they  not  only  drain  the  founda- 
tion, but  they  protect  it  by  intercepting  the  soakage  water  from  the 
adjacent  land.  Where  open  drains  exist,  as  they  do  on  the  majority  of 
roads,  the  cost  of  excavating  for  the  two  under-drains  is  lessened,  and 


104  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

smaller  tile  may  be  used.  Outlets  can  easily  be  had  into  the  tile  drains 
for  surface  water  from  the  ditches  by  the  use  of  catch  basins  when  neces- 
sary, and  this  is  rendered  more  simple  when  two  tile  drains  are  used. 

The  success  of  a  drain  largely  depends  on  its  outlets.  Frequently  its 
usefulness  is  largely  removed,  if  not  entirely  destroyed,  by  the  imperfect 
outlets  on  private  property,  the  result  of  the  opposition  of  the  landowner, 
and  a  law  should  be  enacted  giving  the  Highway  Commissioner  a  right 
to  drain  the  road,  even  though  obliged  to  ditch  through  private  property 
to  do  so.  A  drain  without  an  outlet  is  useless.  The  secret  of  successful 
drainage  is  to  dispose  of  water  in  small  quantities  before  it  gains  force 
and  headway;  and  for  that  reason  it  should  be  carried  awayl>y  natural 
watercourses  as  often  as  possible. 

Sometimes  townships  are  wasting  an  enormous  amount  of  gravel,  and 
in  a  few  years  will  have  to  face  a  serious  difficulty — that  of  finding  a 
substitute.  There  are  townships  now  not  far  from  that  difficulty ;  which 
have  for  years  been  piling  gravel  on  badly  drained,  badly  graded,  badly 
maintained  roads. 

Gravel  placed  on  a  poorly  drained,  poorly  graded  road,  the  repair  of 
which  is  not  attended  to  at  the  proper  time,  is  quickly  rutted,  and  in  the 
wet  seasons  of  spring  and  fall  is  mixed  with  the  soil  beneath,  its  use- 
fulness as  a  road  covering  being  largely  lost.  But  on  the  other  hand, 
when  the  road  is  well  drained,  well  graded,  the  gravel  so  laid  upon  it  as 
to  form  a  distinct  coating,  and  ruts  repaired  as  rapidly  as  they  form,  the 
life  of  the  gravel  is  very  much  extended. 

A  road  roller  is  as  necessary  to  press  and  knead  the  gravel  together 
in  courses,  so  that  it  will  set  well  and  keep  its  form,  as  a  goose  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  tailor  to  press  the  suit  of  clothes  so  it  will  set  well  and  hold 
its  shape. 

UNDER-DRAINAGE. 

It  may  be  accepted  as  a  general  rule  that  roads  tiled  without  gravel 
are  better  than  roads  gravelled  without  tile.  All  roads  except  those  on 
pure  sand  can  be  improved  by  tile  draining.  A  single  line  of  tile,  if  placed 
about  three  feet  below  the  bottom  of  the  open  drain,  if  the  graded  portion 
of  the  road  is  about  24  feet  wide,  would  accomplish  nearly  all  that  tile 
drainage  will  do.  If  one  side  of  road  is  higher ^than  the  other,  lay  the 
tile  on  the  high  side  so  as  to  intercept  the  sub-soil  water  as  it  flows  down 
the  slope.  A  four-inch  tile  meets  most  conditions,  but  the  size  will  depend 
on  the  length  of  the  drain  and  the  amount  of  water  to  be  carried  away. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  give  the  tile  a  uniform  grade,  so  that  there  will  be 
no  depressions.  If  possible  give  a  fall  of  at  least  three  inches  in  one 
hundred  feet.  The  cost  will  be  about  fifty  cents  a  rod.  The  work,  if 
properly  done,  will  be  a  permanent  and  substantial  improvement  to  the 
road  and  will  save  many  times  the  cost  by  lessening  the  amount  of  gravel 
needed  on  the  road. 

The  name  "Macadam"  is  commonly  applied  to  any  road  surfaced  with 
broken  stone,  and  in  this  respect  is  a  very  unfortunate  misnomer.  It  is 
the  neglect  to  provide  for  a  dry  subsoil  that  .is  the  greatest  cause  of  the 
unfortunate  condition  of  roads  throughout  Michigan  today.  Koads  which 
are  not  well  drained  are  but  a  repetition  of  the  English  roads  as  they 
existed  before  the  time  of  macadam — they  are  the  roads  which  the  system 
of  Macadam  displaced.  A  roadbed  in  which  subdrainage  is  not  suf- 
ficiently provided  is  the  opposite  of  a  macadam  road. 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE      1901-1902.  105 

The  importance  of  drainage  cannot  be  too  thoroughly  impressed.  Clay 
in  thick  beds,  when  dry,  will  support  from  four  to  six  tons  per  square 
foot  of  surface,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  clay.  If  only  moderately 
dry  it  will  support  only  from  two  to  four  tons  per  square  foot  of  surface. 
If  the  clay  is  wet  and  soft  it  will  yield  to  almost  any  load.  Gravel,  if  well 
compacted,  forms  a  much  stronger  roadbed,  is  less  yielding  to  the  action 
of  moisture,  and  for  this  reason,  even  for  a  thin  surface  coating 
strengthens  the  road  somewhat.  But  the  real  strength  of  the  road  must 
lie  in  the  subsoil.  Vegetable  molds  and  alluvial  soils  are  weak,  have 
a  sustaining  power  of  only  one-half  to  one  ton  per  square  foot,  and  for  this 
reason  it  is  well  to  remove  such  soil,  securing,  if  possible,  a  gravel,  clay 
or  sand  foundation. 

A  dry  subsoil  becomes  of  greater  necessity  in  a  cold  and  humid  climate. 
The  injury  done  to  roads  by  frost  is  caused  entirely  by  the  presence  of 
water.  Water  expands  on  freezing,  and  the  more  there  is  under  a  road 
and  above  frost  line  the  greater  is  the  injury.  In  freezing,  the  particles 
of  soil  in  immediate  contact  writh  the  water  are  first  compacted.  When 
room  for  expansion  ceases  within  the  body  of  the  soil  itself,  owring  to  its 
saturated  condition,  the  surface  is  upheaved.  When  thawing  takes  place 
the  subsoil  wrill  be  found  honeycombed,  ready  to  settle  and  sink  beneath 
traffic.  It  is  therefore  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  soil  should  be 
relieved  of  all  water  of  saturation  as  quickly  as  possible  by  under- 
drainage.  The  impassable  condition  of  the  roads  during  spring,  often 
ankle-deep  with  mud,  is  to  be  attributed  very  largely  to  a  wet  subsoil 
which  has  been  honeycombed  in  this  manner. 

The  making  of  a  strong  foundation  thus  resolves  itself  into  a  question 
of  under-drainage,  and  the  means  whereby  proper  under-drainage  is 
obtained  must  be  adapted  to  the  manner  in  which  water  finds  its  way 
under  the  road,  and  the  nature  of  the  soil.  A  soil  retains  in  its  texture, 
by  capillary  attraction,  a  certain  amount  of  water.  In  the  case  of  a 
plastic  clay  soil,  wThich  will  absorb  nearly  one-half  its  weight  and  bulk 
of  water,  the  wrater  retained  in  this  way  may  be  the  cause  of  injury.  In 
the  case  of  gravelly,  sandy,  or  other  porous  soil,  it  is  necessary  to  remove 
only  the  water  held  by  hydrostatic  pressure  in  the  foundation  of  the  road. 

The  effect  of  this  is  that  with  a  clay  subsoil,  under-drains  are  nearly 
always  beneficial  in  securing  a  strong  foundation,  and  are  necessary  for 
traffic  of  even  moderate  degree.  With  porous  soils,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
necessity  and  means  of  drainage  will  depend  upon  the  height  to  which 
the  water  rises  in  the  foundation  and  the  direction  from  which  it  comes. 
When  a  strong  foundation  is  needed  these  under-drains  should  be  three 
or  four  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  subsoil. 

Their  location  with  respect  to  the  road  should  be  varied  with  circum- 
stances. The  most  effective  type  of  drainage  employed  is  a  system  in 
which  there  is  a  tile  drain  on  each  side  of  the  roadway  underneath  the 
open  gutters,  with  V-shaped  drains  at  intervals  from  the  center  of  the 
roadbed  to  the  side  drains.  From  this  the  scale  descends  to  drains  at 
the  sides  of  the  roads  only;  then  a  drain  at  one  side  only,  or  in  the 
center  of  the  road,  then  only  an  occasional  drain  at  springy  or  damp 
points. 

It  is  of  advantage  to  understand  the  manner  in  which  nnder-drains 

act  in  different  cases.    With  porous  soils,  in  which  the  water  rises  under 

hydrostatic  pressure,  the  water  enters  the  tile  from  below;  just  as  water 

rising  in  a  vessel  finds  an  outlet  in  the  sides  or  flows  over  the  top.  so  the 

14 


106  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

under-drains  supply  the  necessary  outlet  for  this  excess  moisture  at  a 
proper  depth  from  the  surface ;  it  "lowers  the  water-line." 

With  clay  the  process  is  different.  Absorbing  and  holding  as  it  does, 
like  a  sponge,  a  large  quantity  of  water,  drains  are  less  effective,  but 
none  the  less  necessary.  The  cracks  and  fissures  which  appear  throughout 
the  surface  of  a  baked  soil  during  the  summer  drought  afford  a  clue  to 
the  action  of  under-drains  upon  the  soil.  As  the  clay  yields  up  its  mois- 
ture it  shrinks,  is  torn  apart.  These  fissures  commencing  at  the  drain, 
spread  in  different  directions,  and  each  fissure  thus  becomes  a  new  drain 
leading  to  the  tile.  This  process  goes  on,  the  fissures  become  filled  with 
sand,  vegetable  and  other  porous  matter,  so  that  they  assume  a  degree 
of  permanency  and.  in  clay  soils  under-drainage  is  more  effective  after 
several  years  than  at  first. 


TILE    CULVERTS. 

A  great  number  of  townships  have  largely  discarded  timber  as  a 
material  for  small  culverts  and  sluiceways.  Cedar,  where  obtainable, 
has  been  most  commonly  used,  but  all  varieties  of  suitable  lumber  are 
becoming  scarce,  the  price  is  constantly  increasing  and  the  quality  now 
available  is  far  from  being  equal  to  that  of  former  years. 

Those  townships  which  have  experimented  with  vitrified  and  concrete 
tile  have,  with  very  few  exceptions,  been  favorably  impressed  with  the 
new  material.  Failure  and  some  dissatisfaction  are  occasionaly  reported, 
but  this  in  every  case  can  be  traced  to  causes  not  in  any  sense  condemna- 
tory of  the  new  materials.  Where  any  kind  of  tile  is  used  there  are  cer- 
tain requirements  which  must  be  observed.  In  the  first  instance  the  tile 
must  be  of  good  quality.  It  is  just  as  necessary  to  use  good  tile  in  cul- 
verts as  in  sewers;  where  "culled"  tile  are  used,  failure  is  almost  of 
necessity  the  result.  These  tile  must  be  perfectly  sound  and  straight,  not 
warped  or  mis-shaped  in  any  way,  otherwise  good  joints  cannot  be  made, 
water  will  lay  in  hollow  places  and  culverts  are  apt  to  wash  out. 

Excellent  culvert  pipe  of  concrete  can  be  manufactured  cheaply  in  any 
gravel  pit  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  road  overseer.  The 
pipes  are  from  two  to  four  inches  in  thickness,  according  to  diameter, 
which  latter  may  safely  and  conveniently  reach  three  feet,  in  lengths  of 
two  and  one-half  feet. 

The  implements  required  are  of  the  simplest  kind.  The  most  important 
are  two  steel,  spring  cylinders,  one  to  set  inside  the  other,  leaving  a  space 
between  the  twq  equal  to  the  thickness  of  the  finished  concrete  pipe.  By 
"spring-cylinder,"  it  may  be  explained,  is  meant  such  a  cylinder  as  would 
be  formed  by  rolling  a  steel  plate  into  a  tube  without  sealing  the  joint. 
With  the  smaller  of  these  cylinders  the  edges  over-lap  or  coil  slightly,  but 
are  so  manufactured  that  the  edges  may  be  forced  back  and  set  into  a  per- 
fect cylinder.  With  the  larger,  the  edges  do  not  quite  meet,  but  may  be 
forced  together  and  fastened.  Accompanying  these  molds  are  bottom  and 
top  rings,  which  shape  the  bell  and  spigot  ends  of  the  pipe. 

The  two  cylinders,  with  joints  flush,  are  set  on  end,  the  one  centrally 
inside  the  other,  and  on  the  bottom  "ring,"  which  in  turn  rests  on  a  firm 
board  bottom.  The  concrete,  made  of  first  class  cement  and  well-screened 
gravel,  in  the  proportion  of  one  of  cement  to  three  of  gravel,  is  then 
tamped  firmly  but  lightly  into  the  space  or  mould  between  the  two  cyl- 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     i  107 

inders.  The  tamping-iron  us<-<l  to  press  the  concrete  into  place  is  so 
shaped  as  to  fit  closely  to  the  rylinders. 

The  concrete  is  allowed  to  stand  in  the  mold  for  a  short  time,  when  the 
cylinders  are  removed;  the  outer  and  larger  cylinder  by  removing  the 
clamps  and  allowing  the  edges  to  spring  apart;  the  inner  cylinder,  by 
removing  the  fasten ii  allow  the  edges  to  again  over-lap,  return- 

ing to  the  shape  of  a  coil.  The  outer  cylinder  having  thus  been  made 
larger  and  the  inner  one  smaller,  they  can  readily  be  taken  away,  and  the 
concrete  pipe  is  then  left  until  thoroughly  hardened.  For  the  larger 
sizes,  the  two  halves  of  the  outer  cylinder  are  usually  hinged  and  can  be 
more  carefully  removed  than  when  allowed  to  "spring"  from  the  concrete. 

Just  such  a  number  of  pipe  as  are  actually  required  for  the  season's 
work  need  be  manufactured ;  the  implements  required  are  inexpensive, 
and  the  pipe  may  be  made  by  the  townships  for  actual  cost,  which,  after 
a  little  experience,  can  be  reduced  to  a  very  small  amount. 

If  cement  concrete  pipe  are  employed  they  must  be  of  first-class  quality. 
They  must  be  well  shaped,  as  with  sewer  pipe,  and  all  the  rules  for  making 
a  good  concrete  must  be  observed — that  is  the  material  composing  the 
concrete  (cement  and  gravel)  must  be  of  good  quality  and  properly 
mixed.  The  making  of  good  concrete  is  not  a  difficult  matter,  but  it  is 
sometimes  hard  to  find  men  who  will  follow  directions.  Dirty  sand  or 
gravel,  too  much  water,  careless  and  insufficient  mixing,  neglect  to 
see  that  the  materials  are  used  in  the  right  proportions,  are  the  defects 
most  commonly  found.  Concrete  cannot  be  mixed  like  common  mortar, 
and  an  attempt  to  do  so  is  far  too  often  made.  It  is  affirmed  by  cement 
manufacturers  that  masons  are  the  greatest  offenders  in  this  respect; 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  them  to  follow  any  system  other  than 
that  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed  in  the  use  of  common  lime; 
and  that,  therefore,  an  entirely  inexperienced  but  practical  man,  who 
will  follow  directions  will  often  make  the  best  concrete. 

To  meet  with  success  in  the  use  of  tile  culverts,  they  must  be  put  in 
place  properly.    They  should  be  laid  with  a  good  fall  on  a  regular  grade 
to  a  free  outlet,  in  such  a  wray  that  water  will  not  stand  in  them, 
made  tight  with  cement  mortar.    If  the  joints  are  open,  water  will  work 

The  tile  sjiould  be  laid  with  the  spigot  end  down  grade,  and  the  joints 
its  way  along  the  outside  of  the  culvert,  and  finally  make  a  considerable 
channel,  which  will  allow  the  culvert  to  get  out  of  line  and  finally  result 
in  a  "cave-in."  To  prevent  the  water  from  finding  its  way  along  the  out- 
side of  the  pipe  it  is  advisable  to  protect  the  ends  with  concrete,  stone  or 
brick  head-walls.  Care  should  be  taken  to  excavate  a  concave  bed  for  the 
pipe,  with  depressions  for  the  bell  of  the  pipe  to  rest  in,  thus  securing 
an  even  bearing,  without  which  a  heavy  load  passing  over  before  the 
culvert  has  properly  settled  into  place  may  burst  the  tile.  Tile  cannot  be 
used  in  very  shallow  culverts,  but  must  have  a  sufficient  depth  of  earth 
over  them  to  protect  them  from  the  direct  pressure  of  heavy  loads.  The 
depth  of  covering  necessary  increases  with  the  size  of  the  pipe.  At  least 
a  foot  of  earth  over  the  top  is  advisable  in  every  case,  but  for  culverts  of 
two  feet  in  diameter  or  over  this  should  be  increased  to  at  least  eighteen 
inches. 

The  earth  should  be  well  packed  and  rammed  around  the  tile  to  secure 
a  firm  bearing,  and  light  soils  should  not  be  used  immediately  over  or 
around  the  culvert.  A  heavy  flay,  a  firm  gravel,  or  a  compact  sand  or 


108  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

gravel  will  answer,  but  vegetable  mold,  water  sand,  and  light  loams 
are  subject  to  wash-outs. 

At  the  outlet  the  culvert  should  be  set  nearly  flush  with  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  If  set  higher  than  the  surface  the  fall  of  water  will  wash 
out  a  depression,  and  in  time  will  undermine  the  end  of  the  culvert.  A 
too  rapid  grade  will  have  the  same  effect,  and  it  is  well  to  cobble-pave 
an  outlet  where  this  undermining  action  is  likely  to  occur. 

Culverts  in  many  townships,  are  very  numerous,  and  necessarily  so. 
Water  should  be  disposed  of  in  small  quantities,  along  natural  water- 
courses, otherwise  if  gathered  in  large  bodies  along  the  roadside,  it 
gathers  force  and  headway,  resulting  in  extensive  wash-outs,  and  is  in 
every  way  more  costly  to  handle.  Water  should  be  taken  away  from  the 
roads  as  quickly  as  possible,  for  it  is  excess  water  that  is  the  great  de- 
stroyer of  roads. 

Culverts  in  addition  to  being  a  matter  of  considerable  expense  to  town- 
ships are  too,  often  in  a  bad  state  of  repair,  smetinies  dangerous 
and  when  not  level  with  the  roadway,  are  an  annoyance  and  interrup- 
tion to  traffic.  Good  road-making  is  largely  a  matter  of  good  drainage, 
and  culverts  are  a  detail  of  drainage  upon  which  road  builders  and 
menders  should  bestow  a  great  deal  of  attention,  with  a  view  to  greater 
permanency,  increased  efficiency  and  a  reduction  of  cost. 


CONCRETE  ARCH  CULVERTS. 

The  concrete  arch  culvert  is,  in  a  number  of  localities  replacing  the  old 
form  of  timber  structure.  Greater  in  first  cost  is  the  concrete  culvert, 
yet  if  rightly  constructed,  is  a  permanent  work  and  as  such,  will  in  a 
term  of  years,  effect  a  considerable  saving  in  road  expenditure.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  annual  road  appropriation  is,  in  many  townships, 
spent  in  repairing  and  rebuilding  wooden  culverts  and  sluiceways.  The 
life  of  timber  in  this  work  is  very  short.  Wooden  culverts  are  quickly 
upheaved  by  frost,  warped  by  the  sun,  and  decayed  by  moisture.  Wher- 
ever concrete  culverts  have  been  fairly  tested  they  give  satisfaction,  and 
their  general  use  by  a  township  will  mean,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
a  marked  reduction  in  the  cost  of  this  branch  of  road  work. 

The  stone  arch  is  designed  on  the  principle  that  it  will  remain  in 
place  without  tjie  use  of  mortar.  The  concrete  arch,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  a  monolith,  dependent  upon  its  cohesive  strength.  That  the  concrete 
arch  is  dependent  upon  cohesive  strength  points  to  the  necessity,  in  con- 
struction, of  a  generous  proportion  of  cement,  very  great  care  in  mixing 
the  concrete,  and  a  good  quality  of  all  materials  employed. 

A  concrete  can  best  be  regarded  as  a  mixture  of  mortar  and  broken 
stone,  the  mortar  being  formed  from  a  mixture  of  sand  and  cement. 
Given  a  sample  of  broken  stone  in  a  vessel,  the  requisite  quantity  of 
mortar  can  be  guaged  by  pouring  water  into  the  vessel  until  the  stone 
is  submerged.  The  quantity  of  water  used  will  indicate  the  amount  of 
mortar  required  to  completely  fill  the  voids  in  the  stone.  The  proportion- 
ate amount  of  cement,  needed  to  fill  the  voids  in  the  sand  can  be  gauged 
in  the  same  way.  The  proportions  of  cement,  sand  and  broken  stone 
obtained  in  this  way  would  provide,  with  perfect  mixing,  a  mortar 
in  which  the  voids  in  the  sand  are  filled  with  cement,  and  each  parti- 
cle of  sand  coated  with  cement;  it  would  provide  a  concrete  in  which 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTKI-;.     I'.Mil-liHt:!.  109 

the  interstices  of  the  stctne  are  filled  with  this  inortar,  and  each  stone 
coated  with  mortar.  This  would  be  the  rase  with  perfect  mixing,  and 
would  provide  a  theoretically  perfect  concrete.  Perfect  mixing  is  not 
possible,  however,  and  it  is  necessary  to  provide  an  amount  of  cement 
in  excess  of  the  voids  in  the  sand,  and  an  amount  of  mortar  in  excess  of 
the  voids  in  the  stone. 

With  proper  mixing  and  good  materials  a  satisfactory  concrete  for 
bridge  abutments  can  be  formed  from  cement  and  broken  stone,  in  the 
proportions  of  one,  three  and  six.  It  is  recognized  that  the  greatest 
strength  in  concrete  can  be  obtained  by  making  the  mortar  rich  in  ce- 
ment, rather  than  lessening  the  quantity  of  stone,  but  beyond  providing 
for  a  strong  adhesion  of  mortar  and  stone,  little  is  gained  by  making  the 
mortar  materially  stronger  than  the  stone.  This  applies  to  crushing 
strength,  however,  rather  more  than  to  the  tensile  strength  required  to 
some  extent  in  the  arch.  For  the  arch  proper  it  will  be  well  to  use  a 
richer  concrete,  in,  say,  the  proportions  of  one  of  cement,  two  of  sand, 
and  three  of  broken  stone. 

The  cost  of  the  abutments  may  be  lessened,  where  they  are  of  suffi- 
cient thickness,  by  the  use  of  rubble  concrete.  The  casing  or  curbing 
must  be  built  up  "as  the  laying  of  the  concrete  proceeds.  Within  the 
casing  and  firmly  tamped  against  it,  there  should  be  placed  fine  concrete 
to  a  thickness  of  about  six  inches.  This  will  form  a  shell  for  the  abut- 
ment, inside  of  which  large  stones  may  be  placed  in  rack-and-pinion  or- 
der, ends  up.  There  should  be  a  space  of  at  least  two  inches  between  the 
stones,  filled  with  fine  concrete,  and  all  firmly  rammed.  The  outer  shell 
of  fine  concrete  should  alw?ays  be  kept  built  up  six  inches  or  so  in  ad- 
vance of  the  rubble  work.  The  rubble  should  be  laid  in  layers,  and  each 
layer  well  flushed  with  a  layer  of  fine  concrete. 

The  lumber  used  in  making  the  curbing  or  casing  should  be  dressed, 
tightly  fitted  and  firmly  braced,  so  that  the  concrete  may  be  well  rammed 
into  place.  The  framework  should  be  closely  boarded  up  against  the 
work  as  it  proceeds.  The  centering  for  the  arch  should  be  well  formed. 
The  ribs  should  not  be  farther  than  three  feet  apart.  The  lagging  should 
be  three  inches  thick  and  dressed  to  the  intrados  of  the  arch.  All  the 
framework,  centering  and  supports  should  be  substantial  and  well  con- 
structed. This  framework  is  a  'considerable  item  of  expense  in  the  build- 
ing of  a  culvert  but  it  can  be  used  as  often  as  it  may  be  required  for 
arches  of  similar  span.  The  exterior  of  the  culvert  when  finished  should 
have  a  smooth  face,  free  from  holes,  and  a  surface  grouting  which  is  of 
little  use,  should  not  be  necessary. 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  relative  strengths  of 
gravel  and  broken  stone  in  concrete.  The  natural  inference  is  to  suppose 
that  a  rough,  irregular  surface  will  secure  greater  adhesion  than  one 
that  is  smooth.  However  that  may  be  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that 
gravel  will  make  a  good  concrete,  but  there  is  a  right  and  wrong  way 
of  using  gravel.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  cement  and  gravel,  just  as 
it  is  taken  from  the  pit,  mixed  to  form  a  concrete.  Remembering  the 
proper  composition  of  a  concrete  and  placing  beside  this  the  fact  that 
gravel  usually  contains  sand,  but  not  in  any  definite  proportions,  and 
that  some  pockets  of  "gravel"  may  be  almost  complete  sand,  while  in 
the  layers  adjoining  thorp  may  be  little  if  any  sand,  and  that  many  gravel 
beds  contain  much  clay  or  earthy  material,  it  will  be  readily  understood 
whv  it  is  that,  in  some  cases,  concrete  mixed  in  this  wav  mav  be  suci 


110  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

ful,  yet  it  will  always  be  uncertain  and  hazardous.  The  only  safe 
method  is  to  separate  the  stone  and  sand  composing  the  gravel  by 
screening,  then  to  mix  cement,  sand  and  clean  stone  uniformly  and  in 
their  right  proportions. 

A  cause  of  poor  cement  is  the  excessive  amount  of  water  used  when 
mixing.  The  tendency  very  often  is  to  bring  concrete  to  the  same  con- 
sistency as  common  mortar.  Concrete,  when  ready  to  be  placed  in  the 
work,  should  have  the  appearance  of  freshly  dug  earth.  Where  an  exces- 
sive amount  of  water  is  used,  the  hardened  concrete  will  have  an  open, 
spongy  texture. 

The  concrete  should  be  mixed  at  a  point  convenient  to  the  work,  in  a 
box  which  is  sometimes  specified  as  water-tight,  but  the  concrete  will 
quickly  make  it  so.  It  should  be  mixed  in  just  such  quantity  as  is  re- 
quired, and  a  constant  stream  kept  passing  to  the  work.  It  should  be 
laid  in  layers,  and  each  layer  thoroughly  rammed  until  moisture  appears 
on  the  surface. 

It  is  very  necessary  to  see  that  the  sand  and  stone  used  in  making  the 
concrete  are  clean,  that  it  is  free  from  clay,  loam,  vegetable  or  other 
matter  which  will  act  as  an  adulterant,  and  result  in  a  weak  and  friable 
concrete.  If  such  matter  is  intermixed  with  the  stone,  it  is  well  to  flush 
it  away  with  a  good  stream  of  water.  Large  stone  used  in  rubble  con- 
crete should  be  also  treated  in  this  way.  It  is  well,  particularly  in  hot 
weather,  to  dampen  the  stone  before  mixing  it  with  the  mortar.  The 
heat  of  the  stone  in  hot  weather  causes  the  moisture  of  the  mortar  to 
evaporate,  causes  it  to  set  too  quickly,  and  at  all  times  there  is  more 
or  less  absorption  from  the  mortar  in  immediate  contact  with  the  stone, 
unless  the  stone,  as  intimated,  has  been  dampened. 

When  the  work  ceases  for  the  day,  or  is  for  other  reasons  interrupted, 
the  surface  of  concrete  should  be  kept  damp  until  work  is  resumed.  When 
work  is  in  progress  in  hot  wreather,  any  exposed  surfaces  should  be  kept 
damp  and  protected  from  the  rays  of  the  sun;  otherwise  the  surface  will, 
in  setting  too  rapidly,  be  interlaced  with  hairlike  cracks  which,  filling 
with  water  in  winter,  and  freezing,  will  cause  the  surface  to  scale  off. 
The  same  scaling  sometimes  results  from  laying  concrete  in  frosty 
weather. 

Arch  culverts  of  masonry  or  concrete  fail  frequently  from  settlement 
caused  by  an  insecure  foundation.  The  foundation  should  always  be  of 
at  least  sufficient  depth  to  be  free  from  any  danger  of  undermining  by 
the  action  of  the  water,  and  of  sufficient  further  depth  to  be  safe  from 
settlement. 

SPECIFICATION    FOR    CONCRETE    ABUTMENT. 

(1)  The  abutments  shall  be  built  in  accordance  with  the  dimensions 
indicated  upon  the  plans  and  drawings  hereunto  attached  and  forming 
part  of  these  specifications. 

(2)  Concrete  referred  to  in  this  specification  shall  be  known  as  "fine 
concrete"  and  "Rubble  concrete."     Unless  rubble  concrete  is  definitely 
specified,  fine  concrete  shall  be  used. 

(3)  The  abutments  are  to  be  erected  within  a  substantial  and  well 
constructed  framework  of  well  fitted  lumber,  closely  boarded  up  against 
the  work  as  it  proceeds.     Care  shall  be  taken  to  make  a  smooth  regular 
surface  such  that  moisture  will  not  find  lodgment.    The  concrete  shall 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  Ill 

be  perfectly  rammed  into  place  so  that  all  surfaces  shall  be  smooth, 
without  cavities,  when  the  casing  is  removed.  The  framework  shall  not 
be  removed  in  less  than  fourteen  days  from  the  completion  of  the  work. 

(4)  Fine  concrete  shall  be  composed  of  one  part  by  measure  of  Port- 
land cement,  three  parts  by  measure  of  sand,  and  six  parts  by  measure  of 
broken  stone.   The  concrete  shall  be  mixed  in  a  water-tight  box  or  plat- 
form placed  close  to  the  work,  by  first  spreading  evenly  a  layer  of  sand; 
upon  this  shall  be  evenly  spread  the  proporitionate  quantity  of  cement, 
and  the  two  thoroughly  mixed  in  a  dry  state.  To  this  water  shall  be  added 
and  the  whole  thoroughly  mixed  and  brought  to  the  consistency  of  stiff 
mortar.    The  proportionate  amount  of  stone  shall  then  be  spread  evenly 
over  the  mortar  and  thoroughly  intermixed  therewith.     The  concrete 
when  mixed  as  described,  shall^be  immediately  put  in  place  and  thor- 
oughly pounded  and  rammed  until  it  is  perfectly  and  uniformly  solid, 
moisture  appearing  on  the  surface. 

(5)  Within  the  body  of  the  abutments,  but  not  nearer  than  six  inches 
to  the  surface  in  any  direction,  large  stones  may  be  placed  by  hand  in 
layers.    These  stones  shall  be  in  "rack  and  pinion"  order,  and  not  less 
than  two  inches  apart.     Concrete  shall  be  carefully  inserted  between 
the  stones  thus  placed  and  thoroughly  packed  and  rammed  so  as  to 
fill  all  voids.     Concrete  shall  cover  each  layer  of  stones  to  a  thickness  of 
half  the  depth  of  the  stones,  when  another  layer  of  stones  may  be 
placed.    A  facing  of  concrete  is  at  all  times  to  be  kept  at  least  six  inches 
higher  than  the  rubble  concrete;  and  shall  be  united  with  the  rubble 
concrete  so  a&  to  form  a  continuous  and  solid  mass.    This  outer  rim  of 
concrete  shall  precede  the  placing  of  the  rubble  work  within,  and  shall 
be  placed  around  the  interior  of  the  casing  to  a  height  of  nine  inches 
and  a  thickness  of  six  inches.    It  is  to  be  thoroughly  pounded  so  that  no 
cavities  shall  remain  when  the  outside  casing  is  removed.    In  no  instance 
is  the  rubble  concrete  to  extend  higher  than  one  foot  below  the  top  of 
the  abutment,  which  top  of  the  abutment  shall  be  finished  with  fine  con- 
crete. 

(6)  All  cement  employed  in  the  work  must  be  of  a  favorably  known 
brand  of  Portland  Cement,  and  approved  by  the  superintendent  in  charge 
of  the  work.     It  shall  be  delivered  in  barrels  or  equally  tight  receptacles, 
and  after  delivery  must  be  protected  from  the  weather  by  storing  in  a 
tight  building  or  by  suitable  covering.    The  packages  shall  not  be  laid 
directly  on  the  ground  but  shall  be  placed  on  boards  raised  a  few  inches 
from  if. 

(7)  The  stone  used  shall  be  granite,  quartzite,  fine-grained  limestone 
or  other  equally  strong  and  durable  stone,  care  being  taken  to  exclude 
soft  limestone,  friable  sandstone,  and  stone  affected  by  the  atmosphere. 
It  shall  be  broken  into  varying  sizes,  the  largest  to  pass  any  way, 
through  a  two  inch  ring.    The  sand  used  shall  be  clean,  sharp,  silicious, 
and  of  varying  sized  grain.     The  water  used  shall  be  clean  and  care 
shall  be  taken  not  to  use  an  excessive  amount,  the  concrete  when  mixed 
and  ready  for  the  work  to  have  the  consistency  of  freshly  dug  earth. 

(8)  When  gravel  is  used  in  making  "fine"  concrete,  it  shall  be  clean, 
free  from  clay,  loam  or  vegetable  matter,  nor  shall  it  contain  stones,  any 
diameter  of  which  exceeds  two  inches.    It  shall  first  be  thoroughly  mixed 
in  a  dry  state,  with  Portland  cement,  in  the  proportion  of  six  parts  by 
measure  of  gravel  and  one  of  cement.    To  this  water  shall  be  added  and 
the  whole  again  thoroughly  intermixed,  the  consistency  and  manner  of 


112  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

placing  in  the  work  to  be  in  accordance  with  all  portions  of  this  specifi- 
cation applicable  thereto. 

When  the  gravel  contains  an  excessive  amount  of  sand,  loam  or  other 
objectionable  material,  it  shall  be  screened  to  remove  all  sand  and 
earthy  matter;  if  necessary  it  shall  be  well  flushed,  the  dirty  water  being 
allowed  to  run  off.  The  gravel  so  treated  may  then  be  mixed,  instead  of 
broken  stone,  with  sand  and  cement,  as  prescribed  in  Section  four  (4) 
of  this  specification. 

(9)  While  the  work  is  in  progress,  it  shall  be  so  arranged  that  a 
steady  supply  of  mixed  concrete  shall  pass  from  the  mixing  box  to  the 
point*  where  it  is  to  be  placed.  At  any  time  when  the  work  is  inter- 
rupted before  its  completion,  or  at  the  end  of  the  day  a  wet  covering 
shall  be  placed  over  the  last  layer  of  concrete,  before  the  work  of  depos- 
iting the  concrete  is  resumed,  this  surface  shall  be  thoroughly  flushed 
with  water  to  remove  any  foreign  material  which  may  have  gathered 
thereon.  No  concrete  shall  be  laid  in  wet  or  freezing  weather. 


STONE  ROADS. 

All  things  taken  into  consideration,  stone  roads  are,  where  amount  of 
transportation  is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  cost  of  building  them,  the 
best  and  in  the  end  the  cheapest  country  road. 

Nothing  is  wasted,  however,  in  first  building  a  gravel  road,  for  if  later 
it  is  desired  to  make  this  into  a  stone  road,  it  will  take  much  less  stone 
than  it  wrould  to  build  it  all  of  stone. 

A  stone  road  where  there  is  not  a  large  amount  of  transportation,  is 
as  foolish  as  an  overcoat  is  in  the  summer  time,  and  as  extravagant 
as  a  broadcloth  suit  to  plow  in. 

And  it  is  as  economical  to  start  to  town  with  a  lumber  wagon  full  of 
unpacked  eggs  over  a  rough  road,  as  to  lay  a  macadam  road  upon  a  poorly 
constructed  sub-grade. 

A  lot  of  stone  poured  in  between  two  ditches,  left  for  poor  horses 
to  pound  in  with  their  feet,  or  by  the  tires  of  the  wagons  they  draw,  is 
no  more  a  macadam  road  than  is  the  most  uncivilized  aborigine,  a  col- 
lege graduate,  when  he  has  taken  a  look  at  the  books  of,  and  has  been 
introduced  to,  President  Angell  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 

Don't  ape  the  manners  of  a  city,  and  dig  a  hole  to  put  your  pavement 
in ;  you  must  remember  that  underneath  the  city  street  is  a  sewer. 

Take  a  look  at  old  fashioned  houses  built  so  low  that  the  sills  can 
be  properly  called  mud  sills. 

Don't  spend  half  your  money  in  digging  a  trench  to  put  your  road  in, 
which  later  you  will  find  is  so  low  that  it  floods  and  you  have  to  dig  your 
ditches  deeper  to  pay  for  your  first  foolishness.' 

Cut  out  all  politics,  illogical  theories  and  too  technical  engineers,  that 
is,  you  don't  need  anybody  about  a  road  that  is  afraid  of  wholesome  dirt; 
you  cannot  use  any  theoretical  men,  and  engineers  who  have  spent  their 
lives  on  building  streets  that  cost  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  a  mile; 
it  will  be  hard  for  you  to  get  them  down  to  fit  the  tax  raisable  in  country 
districts. 

If  the  All-wise  had  made  trees  to  grow  300  feet  high  and  as  great  in 
diameter  at  the  top  as  at  the  bottom,  without  any  more  support  at  the 
bottom  than  the  present  amount  of  roots  give,  He  would  either  have  had 


HIGHWAY    COMMITTEE,    1901-1902.  113 

to  change  the  power  of  gravitation  or  all  such  trees  would  have  tumbled 
down. 

But,  He  made  them  taper  as  they  grew  up,  and  in  such  a  way  unless  a 
cyclone  strikes  them,  they  will  stand  with  the  amount  of  support  which 
tney  have. 

Likewise,  if  you  build  a  costly  pavement  out  into  the  rural  districts, 
with  curb  stones,  monuments,  arches  and  milestones,  settees  of  granite, 
and  all  the  artistic  things  that  dreamers  can  dream  of,  you  will  either 
have  to  change  the  power  of  gravitation  in  finance,  or  such  a  road  will 
pull  down  that  rural  district. 

8tone  roads  can  be  built  only  where  there  is  sufficient  transportation 
to  make  it  possible  to  save  enough  to  build  them  and  keep  them  in  repair, 
or  provided  that  State  aid  is  secured  where  the  value  or  a  through  road 
warrants  the  expenditure. 

You  can  no  more  afford  to  half  build  a  macadam  road  than  you  can 
afford  to  half  feed  a  working  horse. 

Neither  will  give  you  satisfaction  unless  properly  taken  of. 

When  a  shoe  comes  off  your  horse,  you  put  it,  or  another  one  on; 
when  a  hole  comes  in  your  road,  mend  it,  or  your  whole  road  will  be 
lame;  don't  let  it  get  sick  all  over  before  you  call  a  doctor. 

UA  stitch  in  time  will  save  nine"  is  as  true  with  a  road  as  with  your 
trousers. 

In  building  the  road,  having  the  sub-grade  ready,  which  has  been 
rounded  on  a  true  circle  descending  toward  the  ditch  on  either  side,  at 
one  inch  per  foot  yet  you  should  throw  up  at  each  side  a  temporary 
shoulder  some  higher  than  your  finished  road  is  to  be,  leaving  this  to  the 
last  and  then  rolling  it  down  which  will  have  a  tendency  to  hug  in  to- 
ward the  stone  road,  and  fill  up  any  voids  that  may  be  in  the  side  of  the 
stone  pavement  as  has  the  binder  on  top  and  making  the  road  safe  from 
ever  raveling  out  at  the  edge. 

To  make  a  good  road,  your  stone  must  be  separated  into  three  sizes, 
the  largest  under  2%  inches  and  over  1^,  this  for  the  bottom  course ;  the 
next  under  1^  inches,  and  over  %,  for  the  top  course,  and  the  other  all 
that  is  under  %  which  is  used  by  some  as  a  binder  for  both  courses,  and  by 
others  for  only  binding  the  top  course.  I  believe  in  binding  both  courses, 
but  will  not  quarrel  with  him  that  thinks  that  to  bind  the  top  only  is 
best. 

Ordinarily  for  country  roads,  nine  feet  wide  is  a  plenty;  this  does  not 
furnish  a  stone  road  wide  enough  to  turn  out  on  when  teams  meet,  but 
the  road  that  was  good  enough  to  haul  on  before  the  stone  road  was  put 
in,  is  going  to  be  left  there  and  much  improved  at  that,  and  it  will 
answer  to  turn  out  on  occasionally. 

Eight  inches  of  loose  stone,  put  on  in  four  inch  layers,  is  ample,  where 
a  firm  sub-grade  exists,  and  stone  should  never  be  put  on  any  other,  for 
it  is  too  costly  a  material  to  buy  and  bury. 

These  layers  should  be  rolled  enough,  and  rolled  enough  means  until 
each  layer  is  nearly  as  solid  as  a  rock,  and  when  you  stamp  your  foot 
thereon  it  has  the  sound  and  appearance  of  being  a  rock,  and  so  hard  as 
to  pulverize  any  loose  stone  that  may  be  thrown  in  front  of  the  wheels 
of  the  roller  which  should  not  weigh  less  than  ten  tons. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  there  is  no  more  use  in  trying  to  make  a  first 
class  stone  road  with  a  four  ton  roller  than  there  is  of  trying  to  do  a 
15 


114  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

first  class  job  at  cultivating  with  a  claw-hammer;  both  are  good  tools  for 
some  purposes,  but  neither  is  sufficient  in  capacity  for  the  jobs  mentioned. 

{Stone  should  never  be  raked  or  hoed  into  position,  it  should  either  be 
dumped  on  to  a  plank  platform,  and  from  it  shoveled  on  to  the  road  or 
spread  with  a  spreading  wagon,  so  arranged  as  to  spread  evenly  any  de- 
sired depth;  the  latter  way  is  as  much  the  best  as  it  is  the  cheapest, 
and  if  much  road  is  to  be  built  the  spreading  wagons  will  save  enough 
to  pay  for  themselves  besides  giving  a  better  road. 

The  sub-grade  is  like  the  abutment  that  supports  the  bridge  if  not 
good,  the  bridge  will  come  down,  so  take  pains  with  the  road's  support, 
and  it  will  take  care  of  you. 

However,  it  is  much  cheaper  and  saves  some  deaths  to  call  a  doctor  to 
diagnose  your  sicknesses,  experiments  on  the  human  body  are  often 
costly. 

If  stone  road  is  to  be  built  in  a  locality,  where  there  is  no  one  to  build 
it  that  has  had  experience,  my  candid  advice  to  that  locality  is,  send  for 
a  Doctor  Roads,  and  if  a  State  Highway  Commission  is  established, 
there  will  be  such  doctors  subject  to  your  call  and  paid  by  the  whole 
State  which  will  be  benefitted  by  them. 


DIET  ROADS. 

Dirt  roads  remind  me  of  a  balky  horse  whose  disposition  is  to  haul 
small  loads  only,  and  which  you  cannot  expect  much  of,  and  your  only 
salvation  rests  in  finding  as  big  a  fool  as  the  man  did  that  owned  him 
before  you  did,  to  swap  him  to. 

But  as  long  as  you  have  this  horse  make  him  do  as  much  as  you  can, 
and  make  a  memorandum  of  your  daily  experiences  with  him  as  a  re- 
minder to  you  in  future  to  be  sure  before  you  buy  or  trade,  that  your 
horse  will  work  every  day  and  everywhere. 

Don't  buy  a  balky  horse  if  you  know  it,  and  try  to  know  before  you 
buy. 

Don't  buy  a  farm  on  a  poor  dirt  road  if  you  know  it,  and  try  to  know 
before  you  buy. 

But  if  you  are  already  there  the  best  way  now  is  to  make  the  way 
better. 

That  is,  do  only  what  is  absolutely  necessary  on  the  dirt  road,  and 
gravel  a  piece  of  road  an  every  district  every  year  until  all  the  leading 
roads  are  gravel  roads. 

Richmond  Township,  Macomb  County,  has  fine  gravel  roads,  and  got 
them  in  a  unique  way,  and  the  plan  may  be  adopted  by  other  townships, 
to  their  profit. 

Several  years  ago  the  township  board  bought  a  gravel  pit,  then  men  in- 
terested in  good  roads  urged  the  farmers  to  put  on  a  load  of  gravel  when 
passing  the  pit,  and  spread  it  along  in  front  of  their  possessions. 

This  resulted  in  some  short  stretches  of  good  road,  just  enough  to 
show  their  worth. 

Then  the  board  bought  other  gravel  pits  and  hired  farmers  with  teams 
in  the  winter  time  when  they  had  nothing  else  to  do  to  haul  gravel  and 
spread  it  on  one  side  of  the  road,  for  one  dollar  per  day. 

The  argument  used  to  get  men  with  teams  to  work  for  this  price,  was, 
that  they  were  working  for  themselves  and  getting  paid  for  it  in  two 


HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  115 

ways;  first,  by  small  wages;  second,  by  getting  roads  which  would  per- 
mit of  increased  loads,  and  by  increasing  the  loads,  less  trips  to  market 
and  more  days  work  upon  the  farm. 


VALUE    OF    ROAD    MATERIAL. 

Von  cannot  afford  to  use  soft  stone  for  surfacing  a  road,  any  more 
than  you  can  afford  to  hire  men  to  chop  wood  with  a  soft  axe. 

It  needs  a  high  grade  and  highly  tempered  steel  in  an  axe  to  give  the 
best  service. 

So  to  in  a  road,  if  the  metal  that  comes  in  contact  with  the  steel  shoes 
of  the  horse  and  steel  tires  of  the  wagon,  is  of  good  quality,  and  hard 
and  tenacious,  then  good  and  lasting  service  is  rendered. 


RELATIVE  VALUE. 

First — Trap  rock  which  only  exists  in  the  Upper  Peninsula. 

Second — Field  granite  cobbles. 

Third — The  best  gravel  (largely  little  cobbles)  with  sufficient  cement 
to  make  it  stand  in  the  pits  without  any  signs  of  water  courses,  and 
hard  to  break  off. 

Fourth — Hard  limestone  of  which  Michigan  has  enough  to  build  all  the 
roads  in  the  country,  and  which  makes  as  good  or  better  material  for  the 
lower  courses  of  a  macadam  road  than  any  other,  and  much  of  which 
serves  well  for  surface  material. 

But.  if  crushed  granite  cobbles  can  be  obtained  for  less  than  $1.75 
a  yard,  it  is  the  cheapest  surfacing  material  on  account  of  its  lasting 
qualities. 

Cobbles  can  be  had  in  jrreat  quantities  for  from  $2  to  $3  per  cord, 
and  each  cord  will  make  r>U>  yards  of  crushed  stone. 

Fifth — Conglomerate  rock  stampings  from  the  copper  mines  4,500  tons 
a  day  are  dumped  in  Portage  Lake,  or  sufficient  to  make  more  than  three 
miles  of  first-class  country  road  every  day,  placed  upon  a  properly  pre- 
pared sub-grade. 

Sixth — Soft  Limestone,  followed  by  poorer  gravels,  mixtures  of  sand 
and  clay,  loam  and  sand,  and  finally  a  well  rounded  but  not  too  round, 
common  clav  or  loam. 


SAMPLE  ROADS  IX  MICHIGAN. 

I'.V    FRANK    F.    ROGERS. 

To  the  Michigan  Highway  Commission: 

Gentlemen — At  Ihe  request  of  your  president,  I  have  the  honor  to 
present  some  of  the  engineering  features  of  the  sample  roads  built  in 
Michigan  during  the  past  two  years. 


116  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

THE  HILLSDALE  ROAD. 

An  exhibition  road  was  built  on  the  grounds  of  the  Hillsdale  Agricul- 
ture Society  during  the  fair  held  in  October,  1901.  The  place  selected  for 
this  road  was  in  the  line  of  one  of  the  main  drives  on  a  soil  whose  surface 
was  a  clay-gravel.  Although  located  on  land  slightly  depressed  below 
the  general  level,  the  soil  was  firm,  naturally  well  drained  and  afforded 
an  excellent  foundation  for  a  macadam  road. 

The  road-bed  was  prepared  by  crowning  the  center  with  an  ordinary 
road  machine  having  the  blades  set  so  as  to  push  some  of  the  earth  to  the 
sides  and  thus  form  shoulders  some  four  or  five  inches  deep  along  the 
margins  of  the  proposed  stone  bed.  The  old  grade  was  in  reasonably 
good  shape  and  therefore  required  but  little  hand  labor  to  finish  prepar- 
ing the  sub-grade  for  the  stone. 

The  road  built  was  nine  feet  wide,  being  the  width  that  is  usually 
built  and  recommended  for  a  single  track  country  road  leaving  the  un- 
disturbed sides  for  turning  out  upon.  The  crushed  stone  was  applied  in 
two  layers,  each  four  inches  in  depth  before  compacting.  The  voids  in 
the  stone  were  filled  with  gravel. 

There  were  many  things  about  this  road  which  were  not  ideal.  The 
problem  before  us  was,  to  make  the  best  of  previously  prepared  ma- 
terials. As  we  seldom,  if  ever,  find  all  the  conditions  to  our  liking  when 
called  to  build  a  road,  we  proceeded  to  make  the  most  of  the  materials 
at  hand  and  instructed  our  audience  that  economy  in  road  building  must 
ever  consist  of  making  the  best  possible  use  of  the  materials  that  nature 
has  provided,  and  usually  not  far  distant. 

The  stone  had  been  crushed  but  was  not  graded,  the  screenings,  in- 
termediate sizes  and  "tailings"  all  being  dumped  into  one  pile.  For  this 
reason  the  stone  was  placed  upon  the  road  "mill-run"  instead  of  beinc: 
able  to  place  the  coarser  grades  in  the  bottom  and  finish  the  surface  with 
finer  stone.  In  the  same  manner  the  screenings  which  should  have  been 
carefully  saved  for  binder,  were  entirely  lost  and  gravel  had  to  be  sub- 
stituted. The  gravel  was  found  in  a  pit  near  by  and  served  a  very  good 
purpose  although  the  rounded  pebbles  of  gravel  do  not  wedge  into  the 
interstices  of  the  stone  so  well  as  the  small  angular  pieces  of  stone  found 
in  the  screenings. 

The  machinery  used  in  building  this  road  was  furnished  by  the  Port 
Huron  Engine  &  Thresher  Company  of  Port  Huron,  Michigan,  and  con- 
sisted of  a  steam  roller  weighing  ten  tons,  two  spreading  wagons  hold- 
ing three  yards  each  and  a  road  sprinkler. 

After  shaping  the  sub-srrade  with  a  grader,  as  above  described,  it  was 
finished  and  the  edges  trimmed  to  a  line  by  using  picks  and  shovels.  The 
center  was  crowned  between  three  and  four  inches  in  a  width  of  nine 
feet.  When  the  trimming  was  finished,  the  sub-grade  was  rolled  till  no 
more  compression  could  be  produced. 

The  spreading  wagons  were  loaded  at  the  stone  pile  with  shovels  and 
forks  and  drawn  to  the  road  with  the  roller  and  spread  automatically  on 
the  road-bed  at  iust  the  desired  depth.  After  the  first  layer  had  been 
placed  and  rolled  enough  to  form  a  true  surface,  the  gravel  was  spread 
upon  the  stone  to  a  depth  of  one  inch.  Water  was  then  applied  with 
the  sprinkler  when  the  rolling  began  and  was  continued  till  1lio  road 
was  hard  and  smooth. 

After  the  first  layer  had  been  completed  as  above  described,  the  second 
layer  of  the  same  kind  of  stone  was  applied,  rolled,  another  course  of 


5 


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HIGHWAY     COMMITTEE,     1901-1902.  117 

gravel  put  on  for  binder  and  again  sprinkled  and  rolled  until  no  further 
compacting  was  possible.    The  gravel  contained  a  little  too  much  clay 
and  the  road  became  rather  sticky  when  sprinkled  but  after  it  had  dried 
for  one  day  it  became  very  hard  and  was  very  much  admired  by  the  thou 
sands  of  people  who  attended  the  fair. 

This  year,  we  are  told,  that  the  road  is  very  much  more  appreciated 
than  the  vear  in  which  it  was  built. 


THE  GREENVILLE  ROAD. 

The  last  week  in  July  of  the  present  year,  a  sample  one-half  mile  road 
was  built  at  Greenville,  Michigan,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Michigan 
Highway  Commission  and  the  American  Road  Makers  and  the  office  of 
Public  Road  inquiries. 

This  may  be  well  called,  "The  Practical  Farm  Road"  and  is  a  road  ad 
mirably  adapted  to  many  sections  in  central  Michigan  where  both  gravel 
and  cobble  stones  abound. 

The  soil  on  which  this  road  was  built  is  sand  but  had  been  surfaced 
with  gravel  about  six  years  previous  and  the  gravel  still  presented  a 
very  fair  surface.  The  road  was  slightly  rolling  but  contained  no  steep 
grades  so  that  no  heavy  grading  was  required  and  the  work  of  preparing 
the  bed  was  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

The  road  was  marked  out  by  a  line  of  pickets  located  parallel  to  the 
center  line  and  just  far  enough  from  it  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  grader, 
the  exact  line  for  the  shoulders  being  marked  by  measuring  in  small  tem- 
porary stakes  from  the  picketed  line. 

To  shape  the  sub  grade,  a  grader  was  first  run  over  the  road  with  the 
blade  set  to  plow  a  small  furrow  toward  the  center,  thus  leaving  the  un- 
disturbed earth  along  the  sides  to  form  a  shoulder  as  there  were  some 
hard  spots  where  the  grader  made  but  little  impression,  the  work  had  to 
be  finished  with  pick  and  shovel.  One-half  day  was  sufficient  to  do  the 
machine  work  on  a  one-half  mile  road,  after  which  two  men  had  plenty 
of  time  to  keep  the  sub-grade  fitted  ahead  of  the  stone  and  at  the  same 
tine  to  do  what  little  hand  leveling  was  required  behind  the  spreading 
wagons. 

On  account  of  the  excellent  gravel  bottom  and  the  dry  sand  foundation 
it  was  decided  to  only  surface  the  road  to  a  depth  of  four  inches  with 
crushed  cobblestones.  The  road  was  surfaced  to  a  width  of  nine  feet. 

Fifty  cords  of  cobblestones  had  been  placed  in  a  pile  at  one  end  of  the 
road.  These  were  crushed  and  separated  into  two  sizes  by  means  of  a 
revolving  screen  placed  over  portable  bins  of  sufficient  height  to  permit 
the  stone  to  be  drawn  out  into  wagons.  The  first  section  of  the  screen 
had  perforations  seven-eighths  of  an  inch  and  the  second  section  two  and 
one-half  inches  in  diameter. 

The  crushing  outfit  was  manufactured  by  the  Acme  Road  Machinery 
Company  of  Frankfort,  Xew  York. 

The  stone  was  drawn  to  the  road  by  a  ten  ton  steam  roller  in  large 
five  ton  spreading  wagons  which  were  designed  to  spread  the  stone  auto- 
matically at  just  the  required  depth.  The  wagons  and  roller  were  made 
by  the  Port  Huron  Engine  &  Thresher  Company  of  Port  Huron,  Michi- 
gan. The  stone  were  nil  crushed,  hauled  to  the  road,  and  thoroughly 
rolled  till  hard  in  one  week's  time,  three  days  of  which  were  occupied  by 
the  exhibition  which  considerably  hindered  the  progress  of  the  work. 


118  STATE    OF    MICHIGAN 

The  two  and  one-half  inch  stone  was  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the  road 
and  the  screenings,  from  dust  up  to  seven-eights  inch  in  size,  were 
placed  upon  the  top  in  sufficient  quantities  to  fill  the  voids  and  leave 
a  little  surplus  upon  the  surface  so  that  after  the  rolling  was  completed 
the  road  was  very  hard  and  smooth.  At  last  reports  (December  1st,  >02) 
the  road  was  said  to  be  in  splendid  condition.  Its  cost  was  surprisingly 
low  and  it  furnishes  an  excellent  example  of  the  combined  gravel  and 
stone  road  (stone  top  and  gravel  bottom)  which  can  be  adopted  with 
saving  in  cost  in  all  sections  where  both  gravel  and  cobblestones  are 
plentiful. 

THE  SPRINGWELLS  TOWNSHIP  ROAD. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1902  eight  hundred  feet  of  road,  fourteen  feet  wide 
was  built  on  Michigan  Avenue  in  Springwells  Township,  adjoining  the 
city  limits  of  Detroit  and  extending  in  a  westerly  direction. 

This  road  takes  the  place  of  an  abandoned,  plank  toll  road.  It  re- 
ceives an  enormous  traffic,  a  large  part  of  which  is  teams  drawing  heavy 
loads  of  brick  from  numerous  yards  in  the  vicinity  to  the  City  of  Detroit. 

Under  the  worn  out  plank  which  formed  the  surface  was  found  a  lot 
of  quarried  lime  stone  in  pieces  ranging  from  six  to  ten  inches  in  the 
larger  dimensions.  This  in  turn  was  underlaid  by  an  old  corduroy  road 
supported  by  an  undrained  blue  clay  sub-soil. 

Owing  to  the  enormous  traffic  which  this  road  sustains,  and  extremeh 
bad  character  of  the  soil,  the  outcome  of  this  road  will  be  watched  With 
a  great  deal  of  interest  by  its  builders  and  a  great  fear  as  to  results  by 
the  citizens  in  that  neighborhood. 

To  secure  the  best  results  possible  in  such  a  difficult  location,  a  tile 
drain  wras  laid  the  entire  length  of  the  road  on  the  upper  side  to  thor- 
oughly cut  off  all  ground  water.  The  trench  was  filled  with  coarse  cin- 
ders up  to  the  bottom  of  the  stone.  A  permanent  and  free  outlet  was  se- 
cured for  the  tile  in  a  city  sewer.  The  old  road  had  no  drainage  except 
tho  comparatively  shallow  open  gutters. 

After  the  sub-grade  had  been  thoroughly  rolled,  twelve  inches  of  stone 
were  applied  in  three  equal  layers  and  each  layer  filled  with  stone  screen- 
ings and  watered  and  rolled  separately.  The  two  bottom  layers  wero 
of  crushed  limestone  from  Monroe  and  were  filled  with  screenings  of  the 
same  kind  of  stone.  The  top  layer  was  of  crushed  cobblestones,  the 
stone  being  shipped  from  the  P.  M.  R.  R.  gravel  pit  at  Milford  and 
crushed  at  a  siding  near  the  road  as  they  were  moved  from  the  cars. 

This  road  was  also  built  with  a  road  building  plant  furnished  by  the 
Port  Huron  Engine  &  Thresher  Company. 

The  road  was  not  completed  till  freezing  weather  had  set  in  and  no 
report  as  to  its  wearing  qualities  can  be  given  at  this  writing.  The  build- 
ers expect  that  the  thorough  drainage  provided,  the  extra  depth  of  stono 
used  and  the  unusual  pains  taken  with  all  the  details  will  enable  this 
road  to  hold  up  even  under  the  severe  traffic  which  it  must  bear. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

FRANK  F.  ROGERS, 

Consulting  Engineer. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

HORATIO  S.  EARLE, 

Chairman. 


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